Transformers Prime: Hope
by IHeartTFs94
Summary: Meet Hope, the adopted daughter of Optimus Prime. Full of life and spirit, this young femme is ready for anything. Just like her Sire, she will do anything to protect her family. Join her and her human friend, Val as they face many challenges such as decepticons, zombie cons, predacons, and even Unicron. (Pairing in the future)
1. Prologue

**Transformers Prime: Hope**

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! So this story is a rewrite of the entire transformers prime series including predacons rising, however I am adding my own OC in here. I know this sort of thing has been done many times but this is something I really wanted to do so I'm giving it a shot. For those of you reading my other story "We're In this Together now", do not fret, I am still writing it and I plan to update it soon. I just felt like I couldn't wait to post this new story. Anyway, back to this story. My OC is Hope. And yes that is her picture on the cover. I plan to make her a major character in this story, so there may be some twists and turns to make sure she gets all the action she can. This first chapter takes place years before the autobots arrive on Earth. **

**Chapter summary: After a massive decepticon strike in the city of Tyger Pax, a group of autobots led by Optimus Prime scout the area and discover something they never expected.**

**WARNING: contains cybertronian swearing and cybertronian bodies.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own transformers, just Hope.**

**I hope you like it. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Hope**

3 vorns ago… (or 249 years ago in earth terms)

(Tyger Pax, Cybertron)

No bot saw what was coming. No bot even had time to react until it was too late. Within minutes, the once peaceful city of Tyger Pax became nothing but a war zone. The sound of cannons and fire power immediately filled the air. The soldiers stood their ground against the brutal decepticons led by their leader Megatron, a former gladiator who wanted nothing more but all the power he could get. As the autobot soldiers fought back, the city was in shear panic as the citizens tried running to safety. However, nowhere was safe. The decepticons charged into the city and slaughtered any bot in sight. Screams of agony and fear were heard as many watched friends and loved ones perish. The decepticons showed no mercy during their rampage. Within one megacycle (1 hour), the city was in ashes. The battle lasted for three solar cycles until the smoke finally cleared.

* * *

It was a solar cycle (day) after the battle that the autobots decided it would be best to scout the area for any survivors. A small group of five arrived to the lost city. This group was led by none other then Optimus Prime, leader of the autobots. accompanying him was the autobot medic and old friend, Ratchet and the autobot scout, Bumblebee. Bumblebee was captured and tortured by Megatron for information, however the scout refused. In return, his vocal cords were destroyed and he was left for dead. If Ratchet hadn't found him in time, he would have joined the alspark in no time. But with his vocal cords damaged, he could only communicate through beeps and sounds. Optimus saw greatness in the young scout and gave him a place in his team. The others were warriors and scouts who've volunteered on this particular exhibition. Optimus looked at the scene and lowered his helm in dismay.

There were buildings burned to the ground and so much debris and smoke. The roads were destroyed and covered with debris and spilled energon. But the worst sighting of all was the bodies of both soldiers and civilians scattered across the city. There were even the bodies of sparklings and younglings. Optimus was spark broken at the sight. He was trying to keep his emotions in check so not to burst out in anger as he clenched his servo into a fist at his side.

Ratchet, looking at what laid before them. He was taking it harder then his leader.

"By the alspark," he said, then gritted his dentas (teeth) together in anger. "Those FRAGGING DECEPTICONS! How dare they! Attacking our soldiers is one thing, but slaughtering a city of innocent bots in cold blood!?"

Optimus placed his servo on the medic's shoulder, "Easy old friend. I agree that Megatron and his followers have gone too far, but right now we must focus on our mission. We must search for any survivors and bring them to safety."

It took Ratchet time to calm down, but he looked at the Prime and nodded in agreement. The group separated into two groups and went on their ways. Optimus had Ratchet and Bumblebee with him. The three scouted through the wreckage of the streets looking for any signs of life. Ratchet had his spark signature detector in his servo trying to get any readings. Sadly, there was nothing.

The group searched high and low for a whole solar cycle and found no trace of any survivors. Once they thought they scouted the entire city, Optimus was about to regroup everybot and head back to base until Bumblebee beeped in excitement, _"I HEARD SOMETHING!"_

Optimus and Ratchet rushed to the scout, "What did you find Bumblebee?" Optimus asked.

"_I heard a voice over there!" _Bumblebee beeped as he pointed at what once was a house. The building was torn apart and covered in rubble and debris. Optimus walked over to the wreckage and listened for any sound. Just then he too heard a small shriek.

"_That was it!" _Bumblebee cheeped.

Optimus made his way to where he heard the sound. He heaved off the fallen wall and grimaced at the sight. There laid the bodies of a mech and a femme. _ Sparkmates,_ thought Optimus. Both had gaping holes in their chassis where there sparks were suppose to be. They looked like they were attacked and fought for their lives till the very end. They laid next to each other with their servos touching. Optimus felt his heart ache. Ratchet checked their spark signatures, but there was no readings. Just then they heard the shriek again. This time louder. Optimus looked at the couple but knew it couldn't be them making the noise. He then noticed the floor outline underneath the two bodies. He turned to the medic and scout.

"Ratchet, Bumblebee, I need an assist."

"The two rushed to their leader. Optimus walked over to the mech's body and whispered, "Forgive me." He then picked up the mech and placed him to the side. Ratchet did the same with the femmes body. They then turned their attentions to the floor. Where the bodies once were, was a floor plate that looked off from the rest. Optimus felt around the crack of the floor plate and was able to lift it off the ground… revealing a stairway.

"Proceed with caution," Optimus said to the others as he activated his cannons in case it was a decepticon trick. Bumblebee did the same and followed after Optimus with Ratchet following the scout. The stairs led to a basement that looked a little shaken from the house collapsing. The room was dark, but there was a small light that lit the room, enough to see. Ratchet took out his flashlight to help them see better. They looked like they were in a bunker filled with energon cubes, tools, and supplies. Just then they heard a small whimper coming from the corner. Ratchet shined the light at a little box sitting there. Optimus, still with his cannons ready motioned Ratchet and Bumblebee to stay where they were. Ratchet continued shining the light at the box as Optimus slowly made his way to it. Once he got close enough, the Prime peeked inside and gasped.

"By the alspark."

Optimus deactivated his cannons and bent down to pick up what was inside the box. Ratchet was confused until he saw what was in the Prime's arms.

"Oh my…"

In the Prime's arms was a little sparkling. She was whimpering as the Prime tried to sooth her.

"It's alright young one. You are safe."

The sparkling looked up at the prime with big blue optics and smiled. Bumblebee rushed over and cooed, _"She's so cute."_

Indeed SHE was. She had green armour and had the cutest smile the bots have ever seen. She giggled when she saw the yellow scout trying to get her attention.

_"__Awww, she likes me,"_ Bumblebee smiled.

Optimus chuckled. Ratchet scanned the sparkling and checked his data. "She appears to be healthy and unharmed. It's a miracle that she survived."

Bumblebee then lowered his door wings in sadness, "_Then those must have been her creators back upstairs."_

Optimus realized that the couple were trying to protect their sparkling from the attack and had her hidden away in the bunker. They fought back so that the decepticons couldn't harm their little one. The Prime looked down at the little orphan. She smiled up at him and nuzzled her little helm against his chassis before drifting into recharge (sleep). He felt a tug in his spark as he cradled the little femme. "We will contact the others and bring her back to base with us," he said.

* * *

(3 orns [hours] later)

Everybot was crowding around trying to get a good look at the new little femme. Once Optimus' team regrouped, they returned to base. Once everybot saw the sparkling, they couldn't believe their optics.

"How could a sparkling survive such an attack?" One asked.

"How old could she possibly be?" another asked.

"Autobots," Optimus said clearly. He still had the femme in his arms ever since he found her. "Questions will be answered later. Right now we need to let her rest. She will also need energon right away."

All the bots nodded and backed away, but still had their optics on the sparkling in complete awe. With the sparkling sound asleep, Optimus set her down in a quiet room and entrusted Bumblebee to keep watch over her and to make sure she drinks her energon once she woke up. It had only been an orn until he heard the sound of crying coming from the room. He rushed over and found Bumblebee cradling the sparkling trying to calm her down. The femme kept crying. Bumblebee looked up at Optimus and beeped, "_I don't know what to do. She refuses to drink her energon and she won't stop crying."_

Optimus looked at the sparkling and thought of something. "Hand her to me," he said. Bumblebee did and handed him the bottle of energon. Optimus cradled the little femme and started humming. The little sparkling stopped crying and looked up at the prime. Optimus continued humming as the sparkling smiled at him. He took the bottle and held it while she drinks from it. Bumblebee watched in surprise. "_She must really like you sir," _he beeped.

Optimus looked at the scout and then back at the little one. The sparkling gave a little burp once she was done and giggled. Optimus chuckled and continued cradling her. Just like before, she nuzzled her helm into his chassis. Optimus' spark was overflowing for the sparkling. He had always wished for a sparkling of his own. And just holding this little sparkling made him want to watch over her. He wanted to protect her and take care of her always. Optimus couldn't help but smile as the little one fell into recharge again. Bumblebee looked at her and smiled as well. _"What should we name her?" _he beeped.

Optimus kept staring at the femme. She was so small for a sparkling, and had the biggest cutest optics ever. She had the smile of an angel and seemed to have found a place in the Prime's spark. Optimus watched as she slept in his arms. Their world was in the middle of a war. The autobots were fighting for their home and had faced many dark moments. And this sparkling was able to smile even after all she went through. Her innocence and pureness was enough to make Optimus' spark melt. This was a dark time, but he knew there was a light around the corner.

"Hope," he said smiling at the sleeping femme, "her name is Hope."

* * *

**And that was chapter one of Transformers Prime: Hope. I wanted my character to have a father daughter bond with Optimus so I decided to do a chapter on how they meet. The next chapter will take place years later with darkness rising part 1. I also plan on pairing her with a certain bot, but I don't want to say who just yet lol. I will update again soon as well with my other story. Please review and tell me what you think. Until next time! :)**


	2. Meet Hope

**Author's note: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for your reviews and for following and favouring this story, it means a lot to me. Just so you guys know I went back to the first chapter and I changed the number of years from when Optimus found Hope to Darkness Rising, so instead of it being 30 vorns, its now 3 vorns. I felt like I should change it so that it would help make Hope seem more younger in this story. So anyway this chapter takes place before and during darkness Rising Part 1. I wanted to do the whole episode in one chapter, but I felt like I was writing too much in one chapter, so I decided to split it in half. Anyway I hope you enjoy it. **

**Summary: pretty much just explaining about Hope.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own transformers prime, just Hope.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Darkness Rising part 1 (part 1)**

(just outside of Jasper Nevada)

This story takes place on a desert landscape with an old paved road stretched out across the land. It was a beautiful clear morning without a single cloud in the sky. Everything was calm and quiet, that was until the the sound of an engine broke the silence. A green Maserati Grancabrio sports car came into view as it raced down the empty road.

"YEEAAAH!" a voice shouted from the car.

The car then accelerated at top speed. Just as the car was coming to a bend in the road, the car immediately turned the steering wheel hard while shifting gears. The car skidded to the side doing a perfect 180. It waited before punching the pedal to the metal and ripped down the road.

"WHAAAOOOO!" the voice hollowed.

The car then drove off road and towards the edge of a rather large sand dune. Once it got close enough, the car then transformed revealing a giant green robot. The femme grinned as she ran and leaped off the edge and skied her way down on her pedes. She laughed and shouted as she swerved from side to side like a snow boarder. Once she got close to the bottom, she jumped, did a perfect barrel roll, and transformed back into alt mode and kept driving at top speed.

"YEEAAHAHAHA!" she yelled.

She raced around for another thirty minutes until she decided it was time to head back to base. She drove back towards the human town but slowed down her speed so not to get any unwanted attention. Making sure no one was watching, she drove off road and straight towards a giant rock canyon. Just then the walls seemed to open revealing a tunnel inside the rock.

The femme continued on as she swerved through the tunnel and into a main hangar. She swerved around and did a perfect three sixty before coming to a stop. She transformed and stretched out her limbs.

She had green armour on her helm, arms, chassis, and legs with a lighter green colour for her audio receptors, shoulder pads, and knee pads. She also had black underneath her armour and a silver torso. Two of the tires were placed on the outside of her pedes. The other two were placed halfway in her back beside her shoulders. Her helm was round with round audio receptors that had two thick silver metal antennas sticking out from each one. Her face plate was white silver with big doe optics that glowed a bright blue. Her bumper and headlights formed a belt around her waist. She was a very attractive femme with her beautiful feminine figure.

"I'm home!" the young femme called out.

She then heard a thump with some colourful language following afterwards. Getting up from underneath the ground bridge panel was the autobot medic, Ratchet. He rubbed his helm in pain after hitting it under the panel as he looked up at the femme.

"And where have you been?" Ratchet asked demandingly.

She was stretching out her arms when she replied. "I was just out for a drive Ratchet."

"Humph," Ratchet said, "Doing more of your stunts now are you?"

"I made it back without a scratch didn't I?" she said folding her arms over her chassis.

"Yes, but you could have been seen." The medic grumbled.

"Relax Ratchet. I made sure I was miles away from the human town and no one saw me."

"You can never be certain. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

The femme just rolled her optics. Ratchet was never one to smile a lot. He was known to be grumpy all the time, even on his good days. But she knew the medic meant well and that he was only concerned about her and the others' safety.

"_Hey Hope_," a voice beeped.

The femme turned around and saw Bumblebee entering the hangar. She was just a couple inches smaller then him. Bumblebee yawned and stretched like he just woke up from recharge.

"Don't tell me you were still recharging while I was gone," She chuckled.

Bumblebee just yawned and chuckled along, _"Well, I don't see how you can get up at the crack of dawn and go for a drive so early in the morning."_

"I can't help it," Hope smiled, "I always have lots of energy in the morning."

_"__When _**_don't_**_ you have lots of energy?" _Bumblebee smirked.

"Ha, ha, ha," Hope said sarcastically. She then looked around the hangar. "Where's everyone else?"

"Optimus and Bulkhead left for recon and Arcee and Cliffjumper are in the training room," Ratchet said.

"Training room huh? I could use some training myself right now," Hope said already making her way to the training room. Bumblebee just looked at her in disbelief.

_"__You just went for a drive and now you want to TRAIN?!"_ he beeped, _"Did you even have energon this morning?"_

_"_I'll have it after training," she said waving it off.

However this got Ratchet's attention, "Oh no you don't!" he said. He grabbed Hope's arm and dragged her to the energon storage. "You need your energon in order to keep you fuelled for the day."

"Awe come on Ratchet…" Hope complained.

"Don't you start Hope," He set her down and placed a cube of energon in front of her. He then turned to Bumblebee, "make sure she drinks it before she runs off." He commanded, "I have something in the back that needs fixing." with that said, he left the room mumbling to himself.

Bumblebee stood there and waited for Hope to drink her energon. She was a little annoyed by this. "Don't tell me you're taking his side, Bee."

_"__Sorry sis. But as your big brother it is my job to make sure you take better care of yourself."_

Hope gave him a look, "I know how to take care of myself Bumblebee. I'm not a sparkling anymore."

He just gave her a sad expression, _"I know, but you're still a little sister to me."_

Hope couldn't help but give Bee a smile. She remembered growing up with Bumblebee who was always there for her like a big brother. He would always play with her whenever he was free. Now that she was fully grown, she hung around Bumblebee like they were best buddies, but they still had their special brother/sister bond. And of course like any older brother, he annoyed her to death, or vice versa. But she couldn't help but love him.

"And I'm glad I am," she said. She then sighed in defeat, "Fine, I'll drink it. But once I'm done we're heading straight for the training room. Deal?"

Bumblebee perked up, _"Deal,"_ he beeped.

Hope then grabbed the energon cube and started chugging it. Bumblebee was looking at her with wide optics. "_Slow down!_" he beeped.

Hope didn't listen as she chugged her energon till there was nothing left. She let out a sigh of satisfaction as she put the empty cube down and started pushing Bumblebee out the room like she was in a hurry.

"Come on, lets go train!" She said with a grin.

Bumblebee just glanced at her again in disbelief, _"Where do you get all this energy?!"_ he beeped.

* * *

Hope ran to her opponent with her wrist blades out and was ready to strike. The red mech quickly dodged her and tried to throw a few punches at her. She was fast at blocking them before giving him a round house kick. He dodged that too and threw some more punches at her. She tried blocking those off, but found herself being pushed back. However, she held her ground and pushed back with everything she had. She mixed in punches with kicks as she tried to find an opening. She found one and gave a kick into her opponent's chassis. He stumbled back and then activated his cannons at her. She dodged the first three blasts, but lost her footing causing her to lose focus on where the cannon was shooting. She got grazed on the torso by the fourth blast. As the blast grazed her, she felt her side sting from the shock. She clutched her side and moaned.

"Ow," she said.

The red mech known as Cliffjumper just chuckled, "Not bad. Just make sure you keep your focus on the fight. If I didn't fill my cannons with training ammunition, you would have probably gotten a hole in your side."

Hope shook the off the pain and got back into a fighting stance, "Let's try that again," she said.

"Don't you think you should call it a day? You've been training hard for two hours now. You shouldn't over do it," Cliffjumper said.

"Not yet. I want to get this right first. I want to be ready for anything," she grinned with determination.

"Cliff's right Hope," said a blue femme about a couple inches smaller then Hope. Both Arcee and Bumblebee stopped their training early and decided they would watch the other two spar. "If you over do it, you could do some serious damage to yourself."

"I feel fine 'Cee. I just want to work more on my technique," Hope said.

"I know you're excited to join us on our missions Hope," Arcee said, "But a soldier must know their limits in order to keep going."

"Besides, you've been improving," Cliffjumper added patting Hope on the back, "Keep it up and some day you might be better then Arcee."

Arcee rolled her optics and smiled. "some day," she said.

She did believe that Hope would be a great warrior, she just didn't want to admit that Hope might get better then her. She remembered Cliffjumper and her arriving on Earth four years ago and teaming up with Team Prime. Hope was still in training when they met. Hope started looking up to Arcee as a big sister and would always ask her to help train her. Arcee soon warmed up to the young femme and taught her everything she knew. She still couldn't believe how fast the femme learned after a short period of time. It wouldn't be long until she started going on missions with them.

"I have to agree," a deep baritone voice said "you have been improving in your training Hope."

Every bot turned and saw the big red and blue bot standing in the doorway. The bot was none other then Optimus Prime.

Hope smiled, "Thanks Sire."

The prime smiled at his daughter and then turned to the others. "Arcee, Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, I am sending you on patrol. Report to the main hangar immediately."

The bots nodded and walked out of the room leaving just Hope and Optimus. Hope looked at her Sire and decided to ask him again.

"Sire, I've been training for a long time now. I know I've been asking this a lot, but when will I get the chance to go on missions with the others?"

The prime looked at his daughter hesitantly at first, but made his expression look calm and said, "When the time comes."

Hope looked disappointed by his answer, "Why is it every time I ask, you always say the same thing? "when the time comes.' When will the time come?"

The Prime looked at his daughter knowing how bad she wanted to help. "I know you want to help the team Hope, but you still have much to learn. Your time will come soon when you are ready." he said.

"But I am ready! You even said so yourself my training is improving."

The Prime saw the determination in her optics, however his answer didn't change. "I'm sorry. But not yet."

The femme was about to argue until the prime interrupted her.

"And that's final," he said calmly but with a hint of sternness before walking away. The femme just let out a sigh of frustration and decided to keep training.

Optimus walked pass Ratchet who had heard everything. Ratchet walked beside the leader and decided to talk to him.

"She isn't a youngling anymore Optimus," He told his leader, "Don't you think its time to send her on missions with the others?

Optimus didn't want to admit it, but Ratchet was right. Hope wasn't a youngling anymore. He looked back on all those years of raising her as his own. She was still a sparkling when they left Cybertron. She was always the adventurous one and full of curiosity. Optimus wanted nothing more then to keep his daughter safe. Whenever he had to go on missions, he would make sure someone was keeping an eye on Hope. And when he would return, she would always greet him with her beautiful smile. Coming back to base to see his daughter smile was what kept him fighting strong for so long. When she became a youngling, she became interested in the idea of becoming a warrior, so after some begging and pleading Optimus finally gave in and decided that he would train her. Every day he would train her. She learned so much from him and accelerated, pushing herself everyday and becoming stronger. She had determination, spirit, and a good spark. And now she was the same age Bumblebee was when he started, and for a while had been asking the Prime to let her go on missions with the others.

The Prime glanced at the medic, "I'm just not certain that I taught her enough."

Ratchet turned to the prime, "There are some things we learn in life that we must learn through experience. It doesn't sound easy, but thats how it is."

Optimus let out a soft sigh. He knew he had to let his daughter go sooner or later, but he wanted to be sure it was at the right time. The two continued down the hall where the others were waiting.

* * *

An hour had passed when Hope decided she had enough training for the day. She walked into the main hangar to find everyone but Ratchet gone. And as usual, she was left behind.

_I know I'm ready. Why won't he give me a chance?_ she thought to herself a little annoyed.

She grabbed a cube of energon and took big gulps of it. She used up a lot of energon from her training and was super thirsty. Just then Ratchet called to her.

"Hope, I need you to stay by the monitor for a while. I'm bridging out for a quick errand. Keep your audio receptors open for anyone else," said the medic.

"Sure Ratchet," she said.

Hope stood in front of the monitor just after Ratchet left. Since she's always had to stay behind, Ratchet was able to teach her how to work the ground bridge or even teach her basic medical training. She watched the monitors for a good twenty minutes until a voice finally came through.

"Hope! It's Ratchet! Bridge me back now!"

Hope immediately reacted and activated the ground bridge. The medic rushed in and immediately took control over the ground bridge. Soon everyone else came back to base. Everyone but…

"Where's Cliff?" Hope asked sounding concerned.

No one responded. Ratchet quickly located CliffJumper's signal. "I'm locked onto his coordinates!" He then turned the ground bridge back on as everyone ran through the portal leaving Hope behind again. Hope was getting worried. _Did something happen?_ she thought.

She waited for probably five minutes until Optimus called for a bridge. She activated it immediately and waited for the others to come through. Everyone walked in, but Cliffjumper was no where to be seen. Hope was about to asked what happened when she noticed the sad expressions on everyone's faceplates. She then noticed Arcee clutching something in her servos. Hope's optics widened as she identified what Arcee was holding. In the two wheeler's servos was one of Cliffjumper's horns. Her spark sanked as she tried to fight the tears. She was only able to whisper.

"No."

* * *

**And that was chapter 2! I hope you liked it. I hope to update the next chapter soon so please review and tell me what you think. Until next time.**


	3. Meet the Humans

**Authour's Note: Hey guys! Thank you so much for your reviews and for following and favouring this story. And a big thanks to LuisJM for sharing some ideas with me. It really helped me a lot. So I now present to you chapter 3. And like I said before, there are some twists and turns in this story. Also I added another OC into this chapter. Anyway, I hope you like it, so enjoy!**

**Summary: After the loss of their comrade, Hope and Arcee stumble across trouble and accidentally get four (Yes I said four) human youths caught in their war.**

**Warning: Violence and Cybertronian language.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own transformers, just OCs.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Meet the Humans**

Every bot was gathered at the edge of the cliff on top of the base. A circle was formed as Optimus spoke out.

"We must not allow our anger over the loss of Cliffjumper to impair our judgement. As of today, only we six remain on this earth. We owe it to ourselves, to the memory of Cybertron, to any autobots in any galaxy seeking safe harbour, to humankind. And we owe it to our fallen comrade, to survive."

During his speech, Arcee placed the horn of her former partner down in the centre of the circle. A tear was trickling down Hope's face plate. To her, Cliffjumper wasn't just a member of team prime. He was family. Cliffjumper would tell Hope stories of him back on Cybertron and she would listen to every single one. Cliffjumper was always the one who encourage her to never to give up and to follow her spark . And whenever she felt troubled, he was there to listen.

Hope still couldn't get over the fact that he was gone. She blamed herself for most of it. _I could have bridged over and save him. Why didn't I? _she thought angrily at herself. She tightened her servos into fists as tears were streaming from her optics. _Fragging decepticons! _She thought. However, no one was taking it harder then Arcee. After she placed Cliffjumper's horn down, she began walking away.

"Arcee?" Optimus questioned.

"If Cliff's gone, standing around here and sulking won't bring him back," Arcee stated. But Hope heard the pain in her voice. "So unless anyone minds, I think I'll get back to _protecting humankind,"_ With that said, she transformed and drove off.

Ratchet moved to Optimus' side. "Optimus, helping humans will only result to more tragedy," The medic said.

"You're opinion is noted," Optimus replied.

Hope heard this and her spark sank. It was true, anyone of them could be next. Her Sire saw her looking upset and walked over to her. He knelt down and pulled Hope into a comforting hug. She hugged him back as she placed her helm against his chassis like she always did.

"I could have done something," she murmured.

Prime heard his daughter's words and placed his servos on Hope's shoulders.

"Listen to me Hope, there is no reason for you to blame yourself. Even if you had gone to help, it would have been too late. There's nothing you could have done."

Hope still didn't feel sure about it as she glanced to the side and grumbled, "Right Sire." She was quiet for a moment.

"I'm going for a drive," she finally said still sounding upset. Her Sire stood up as she transformed and drove off the same direction Arcee went.

Optimus stood there as he watched his daughter drive off. He sighed, thinking she just needed time to herself. He and the others made their way back inside the base.

* * *

**(K.O. Burger Drive in)**

"Welcome to K.O. Drive in, where every patty's is a knockout. May I take your order?"

Jack Darby was working at his part time job at the K.O. Drive in helping the next customer.

_"__Uh, two super combos, and extra fries,"_ a young male voice said through the speaker.

"Okay, dos numero twos. Anything else?" Jack asked.

"_Yeah, some advice," _The voice started, "How do I get an awesome job like yours?" The voice started laughing along with another voice.

Jack grimaced, "So that's two 'We're not as Funny as we Think we Are' with a side of 'Bite Me," he shot back.

The voice laughed for a second, but then realized what Jack just said.

_"__What'd you say!?"_

Jack grinned, "$5.59 sir, at the window," he spat. He had the order placed at the window but made the mistake of turning his back. The car then pulled up and the guy took the order. He and his friend laughed at Jack as they drove off without paying.

"Hey!" Jack yelled after them. He slumped his shoulders, "I have to pay for that," he lamented.

A girl about his age was in the diner and saw the whole thing. She sighed and walked over to the counter pulling out some cash. "Here cuz," she said handing him the cash. "And word of advice, next time you pull a stunt like that, don't leave the order at the window."

Jack gave her a small grin and waved off the cash, "Keep it Val. I had it coming,"

Valorie Darby just slapped the money into her cousin's hand. "Just take it. You want to save money for a motorcycle don't you?"

Jack looked at his cousin and sighed, knowing that she was stubborn and wouldn't take no for an answer. He finally just accepted it. "Thanks Val."

She gave him a smile, "Hey, that's what familie's for." She checked her watch, "By the way, shouldn't you be done soon?"

"Yeah, just a few more minutes and we are out of here," Jack said.

* * *

**(Somewhere Close By)**

Arcee drove down the street with her holoform, Sadie, sitting on top. She stopped at a red light when she heard someone honk at her. She used her side view mirrors to see a green Maserati Grancabrio pull up beside her.

"Hey Cee," Hope said softly. Since she was a convertible, she too had her holoform activated. Her holoform had thick dark long hair and was wearing a green jacket, white tank top, and black skinny jeans with green, white, and black running shoes. She had bright blue eyes that matched Hope's optics and looked to be in her late teens.

"What are you doing here Hope?" Arcee mumbled.

"What, I can't go for a drive?" Hope half joked, but then spoke more seriously, "I just wanted to see if you were okay."

"Well, I am," Arcee said coldly. The traffic light then turned green. "Just go home Hope."

She drove off, but Hope was on her tail. They stopped at another set of lights as Hope pulled up beside her again.

"Arcee, please. If you want to talk I'm here for you. You can't just bottle this up inside."

"And what could you possibly understand?! Cliff wasn't your partner!" Arcee snapped.

The light went green, but before Arcee drove off, Hope quickly shot forward and to the side, blocking the two wheeler. It was a good thing they were the only two vehicles at the intersection.

"Cliff may not have been my partner, but he was still family to me! To all of us! You're not the only one who's mourning Arcee!" She spat.

Arcee was about to argue back, but decided to drop it. She sighed, knowing that the young femme was right. "I'm sorry Hope. I know Cliff was family to you. It's just that… this isn't the first time I lost a partner."

Hope let go of her anger after hearing what Arcee said. She realized what was bothering her. "You lost a partner before?" she asked.

Arcee was silent for a second. "His name was Tailgate," she finally said. "He was my partner back on Cybertron. He was killed right before my optics," she said with pain in her voice. "I never liked talking about it."

Hope was saddened by this. "I'm sorry for your loss Arcee. For both Cliff and Tailgate," she said with sympathy.

Arcee looked at the green sports car. If she was in her bipedal mode, she would have a small smile on her face plate. "Thanks Hope." she said softly.

Hope then moved out of the way and the two drove off together. However, it wasn't long until Hope discovered they were being followed.

"Arcee, we got company," she warned.

Arcee looked through her side view mirrors and saw the purple car following them.

"Decepticon," Arcee hissed.

Hope studied the vehicle. She had never seen a decepticon up close before. She felt anger build up knowing that the decepticons were the ones that took Cliffjumper from them. She then noticed another vehicle exactly alike drive up beside the other.

"We got another one," she growled.

"Twins," Arcee commented. Arcee then noticed the drive in. "Hope, follow me."

She got in front of the green car as the two femmes sped up and pulled into the drive in. The two cons drove passed them as they parked in front of the drive in.

"Take five, Sadie," Arcee said to herself as she deactivated her holoform and deployed her kick stand. Hope deactivated her holoform and cut off her engine. They waited until the coast was clear.

Just then a girl walked out of the drive in. She looked to be sixteen and was five foot five with a thin athletic figure. She had dark brown hair in a loose braid that went past her shoulders and had a heart shaped face with green almond shaped eyes. She wore a brown leather jacket with a soft pink tank top and blue skinny jeans with black small thick heeled boots.

Once she walked out of the diner, the first thing she noticed was the green maserati grancabrio parked up front. Her eyes went big as she stared at it almost in a dream state.

"No. Freaking. Way!" She squealed as she rushed over to the green european car and started drooling over it. Hope tried to stay perfectly still while the human was checking her out. She felt the human's hand slide down her hood.

"I can't believe it! An actual Maserati Grancabrio! This is incredible! And it's in my favourite colour! Its so beautiful!" The human femme squealed. _She has good taste_, Hope thought to herself.

Just then a boy came out of the diner. He looked to be about the same age as the girl, but was a couple inches taller then her. He had jet black hair with blue eyes and wore a grey t shirt over a white long sleeve with blue jeans and white and black runners.

His phone rang, "Hey Mom," he said into the phone. He was making his way towards the girl who was still drooling over the sports car. "I just got off. No, I'm not going to the dance. Experience suggests I should never cut a rug. Unless I'm installing carpet. Be careful; seriously? This is Jasper."

He then noticed the human girl leaning into the green sports car trying to get a better look inside.

"Val, what are you…" he started until he noticed the motorcycle parked beside the car.

"I love you," he slipped out. He then remembered he was still on the phone. "Uh yeah. Love you too mom. Gotta run," he hung up and walked over to the blue motorcycle."Hello beautiful," he said, "Where have you been all my life." He then stroked her down the seat. "Nice."

Hope was trying so hard not to laugh. She could tell Arcee was not enjoying this. The boy then mounted onto Arcee.

Valorie laughed at her cousin, "Found your dream bike Jack?"

"You bet," Jack said. He looked down at the motorcycle, "It may take a few KO pay checks, but I am going to own a ride like you someday." he said to it.

"Are you talking to your motorcycle?" a voice said. Both humans looked up to see Sierra and her friend snickering at Jack. Valorie had herself sitting on the side of the car.

"Uh, my motorcycle? No! I mean, yes, its mine. But I'm not talking to… well to you, I am. How's things Sierra?" he stuttered. "Take you for a spin sometime?"

Valorie pinched the middle of her brow and shook her head. "Nice one Jack," she muttered sarcastically. Hope and Arcee then noticed the two vehicles from before approaching.

"Come on smooth operator, wrap it up." Arcee mumbled.

"Come on kid, get off," Hope muttered referring to Valorie.

"You know my name?" Sierra asked the boy.

"We're in home room together. I'm Jack. Jack Darby," he said.

Just then the two cons revved up there engines loudly and sped towards the group. The two girls screamed and fled while Valorie accidentally fell backwards and into Hope's seat.

"Scrap!" Arcee and Hope deadpanned. Arcee popped a wheelie and turned around with Jack still on her.

"Whoa!" he screamed.

Hope sped off after Arcee and passed the two cons, knowing that she still had the human inside. Valorie latched onto the driver's seat and was shocked to see that the car was driving by itself.

"What's happening?!" she cried out.

"I'd put the seatbelt on if I were you!" Hope told the human. The girl looked around trying to find the source of the voice.

"Who said that!?" she yelped.

Hope realized that she and Arcee got separated and that one of the cons was chasing her down.

"HANG ON!" Hope yelled as she made a sharp turn into an alley. Valorie was being tossed around inside the car as she tried hanging on for dear life. A con was right behind Hope as she accelerated down the alley. She soon realized she was heading for a dead end. She then came up with an idea as she approached the building in front of her.

"Hey kid, can you trust me for a second?" she asked the girl.

"Why do you aaAAAAHHH?!" Valorie started asking, but trailed off as she was ejected out of her seat and into the air. Hope then transformed and jumped against the building pushing her the other direction. She did a backwards flip in the air as she grabbed a surprised Valorie and landed on top of the con. "Think fast Con!" she grinned as she jumped off him and transformed heading back the way she came. The Con was able to turn around and chase after her.

Valorie was still a little shaken from what happened until she finally let out a "Whoa."

Hope swerved out of the alley and onto the road. The con was still hot on her tracks. The con caught up and started bumping into her trying to make her crash.

"What's this guy's problem?!" Valorie asked.

"Let's just say he doesn't like me!" Hope said.

Hope then noticed the con backing away as it began shooting at her. She swerved trying to avoid getting hit. Valorie crouched down in her seat covering her head.

"Now he's shooting at us!" Valorie shouted.

"Yeah I can see that!" Hope muttered out loud, "If he hits me, you'll be sure to point it out now won't you?!"

Hope then turned a corner and onto another road.

"Wait a minute!" Valorie shouted, "This is a one way street!"

"We're only going one way!" Hope responded.

The vehicon continued on after the green car. Hope had to shake him off somehow.

She then noticed a big tin barrel, and if she was right, it contained oil.

_Worth a shot, _Hope thought as she sped up. Once she passed the barrel, she did a three sixty and knocked the barrel behind her, spilling oil all over the street. She then sped off just as the con approached her. He didn't have time to react as he drove into the oil and started spinning uncontrollably and into a fire hydrant. Water burst out everywhere, drenching the angered con.

"That's one way to take a bath," Hope chuckled. She drove off and back onto the main road. "Now to find Arcee."

Valorie looked back behind them and then back at Hope. She then started smiling. "That. Was. AWESOME!"

Hope looked at the human through her rear view mirror confused. "You're not freaked out?' she asked.

"A little, but in a good way," Valorie smiled, "I'm Valorie by the way. But you can call me Val."

"I'm Hope," Hope said.

Just then Hope spotted Arcee in the spillway just under the bridge. She saw a short cut and decide to pull another stunt.

"Ready for some more excitement Val?" Hope asked.

Before Valorie could answer, Hope accelerated towards the spillway and drove over a ramp. The two were air born for a few seconds as Hope transformed and landed on her pedes. She caught Valorie and set her down on the ground. Valorie saw her cousin standing beside the blue motorcycle and ran towards him.

"Jack!" she said and got him in a big bear hug. Jack winced a bit but hugged her back. "You okay Val?"

"Yeah," she said.

Hope then noticed another human staring right at her. This one looked to be twelve and had brown spiky hair and was wearing glasses. He wore a brownish orange sweater vest over a light colour long sleeve button up shirt and baggie blue jeans with orange and white sneakers.

"uh," Hope said then gave an awkward wave, "Hi."

"Whoa," he said.

"You have no idea," Valorie said smiling.

Just then the group heard engines revving as they turned to the shoulder of the spillway. The two cons transformed and landed in front of them. Hope looked at the two. They were way taller then her and Arcee and had glowing red visors. Hope took a deep breath and prepared herself for her first decepticon smack down. However, Arcee transformed and got in front of her.

"Hope, you guard the humans. I got this," the two wheeler commanded.

Hope looked at Arcee and argued, "No way I'm going to let you take these two on alone!"

"I'll be fine Hope. Just stay with the humans," Arcee said.

"But.."

"DO IT!" Arcee yelled as she charged at the two vehicons. Hope growled and moved her way in front of the humans. She watched as Arcee dodged and kicked the two cons. The younger boy watched and asked, "What are they?"

"Talking cars that turn into robots," Jack answered.

"Or the other way around," Valorie stated.

Hope watched Arcee threw some punches at the one and gave him a round house kick sending him on his back.

"ALL RIGHT 'CEE!" Hope cheered.

The other con charged at Arcee. She saw this and charged at him. She threw some punches at his face plate, "THIS. IS. FOR. CLIFF!" she screamed.

However the con didn't even look fazed by her attacks. Arcee backed up a bit just as the con started firing at her. She did a few back flips to avoid the blasts, but one hit her square in the chest.

"ARCEE!" Hope screamed. Hope started fuming as she activated her wrist blades and charged at the two cons. _ I already lost Cliff. There's no way I'm losing Arcee! _she screamed in her head.

Arcee looked up and saw the young femme charging at the enemy, "Hope, NO!"

This caught the cons attention as they turned and saw the green femme ready to strike. The one closest dodged her and sent her a punch. She dodged him and kicked him square in the chest. He stumbled back as she charged at him and delivered multiple blows to his stomach. She finally gave him an upper cut to the chin and watched as he stumbled and fell on his back.

_Too easy,_ Hope thought with a smile. However she completely forgot about the other one as she received a blow to the side of her helm and was knocked onto the ground.

"Hope!" Valorie shouted.

Hope was dizzy from the impact, but rolled onto her back to see the con pointing his blaster at her. He chuckled darkly at her.

"My, aren't you a cutie," he flirted, "Too bad I have to kill you."

Hope was quick to shoot at the con's pedes as he stumbled back. She quickly got up and rammed her fist into his face plate, knocking him out.

"That was for Cliff, you Fragger!" she spat very angry.

The other con got up and was ready to pummel the femme. However, a noise came from above as the two looked up and saw a yellow Urbana 500 transform and land in front of the vehicon. Bumblebee drove his fist at the con's helm, knocking him to the ground.

"Nice of you to join bro," Hope smiled.

"_ You okay Hope?" _Bumblebee chirped worryingly. Before Hope could answer, the con she took down got up and was about to shoot her. She noticed and quickly dodged the attack. The con Bumblebee took out recovered and went after Bee. Arcee was still recovering from the hit she received. Hope kept dodging the blasts and hits until she could find an opening. However, he was faster and gave her a kick to the stomach. She flew back and skidded. Hope looked up and saw the two cons pointing their blasters at Bumblebee.

"BEE!" Hope screamed. She activated her cannons and was about to fire.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" a voice shouted.

Everyone's attention turned to the young boy. Even the cons stared at at him.

"Please?" the boy murmured.

"Bad call," Jack said.

One of the cons then made his way towards the humans.

"Oh no you don't!" Hope shouted as she charged after him. The other con forgot about Bumblebee and went after Hope. She fought back as Bumblebee went after the con chasing the humans. Hope was able to dodge each of his attacks and gave him a blow to the stomach. He staggered back as she increased her speed and started punching and kicking his head and gut. She finally put all her power into her arm and drove it right into the con's face plate. The blow was enough for him to fall flat on his back, knocking him unconscious.

"And stay down!" Hope warned. Hope then rushed over to Arcee and helped her on her pedes.

"Come on Arcee. Up ya get," Hope said trying to encourage the two wheeler. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Arcee said. Just then Bumblebee came back and was sparring the other con. _ Looks like the kids got out okay, _Hope thought.

Just then Bumblebee got knocked towards the two femmes. The two helped him up as the other con regained consciousness and stood up. The three bots prepared to fight. Just then a noise came from behind. The bots turned around to see Bulkhead drive up and transform. He pounded his fists together. "Who's ready to rumble?!" he shouted.

The two cons were easily out numbered and drove off in a panic. Hope laughed, "YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!" she shouted at them.

Bumblebee sighed in relief as Arcee asked Bulkhead. "What took you?"

"Traffic," Bulkhead responded.

The three bots shot him a look.

* * *

**(Autobot Base)**

"And the cons would have been scrap metal if we hadn't been distracted by the humans," Arcee reported.

"Humans?" Optimus asked. Once the four bots returned to base, they immediately reported what happened to their leader. Of course he wasn't too thrilled about Hope getting caught in the action, but when he heard Arcee mention humans, he became more concerned.

Bumblebee beeped and held up three digits (fingers). "Two boys and a girl," Prime repeated.

"I guess the other one caught us in action. I don't know! Was a little busy at the time." Arcee said defensively.

"Yeah! Kicking some con afts!" Hope smiled pounding her fist into her servo.

"Hope! Watch your glossa (tongue)!" Ratchet said sternly. Hope rolled her optics. Optimus looked at his daughter and was thankful that she was unharmed. However, a new problem had arisen.

""If Decepticons are targeting us, anyone perceived as our ally will be at grave risk," Optimus predicted. He then turned to Arcee and Bumblebee. "Tomorrow, you two will escort the humans back here. There is much they need to know."

* * *

**(The next day)**

Everyone was waiting in the main hangar for their company. Hope was leaning against the wall fiddling with one of Ratchet's wrenches, which he then swiped back from her. she just waved it off and waited patiently. Just then the yellow Urbana 500 and blue motorcycle drove into the room. Hope recognized Jack, but she had no idea who the asian girl was behind him. Bumblebee opened his doors and let Raf and Valorie out before transforming.

"I thought there were three?" Ratchet commented.

"Haven't you heard. Humans multiply." Arcee said snidely.

The smaller boy introduced himself. "I'm Raf."

"I'm Miko," the asian girl said running towards Bulkhead. She wore punk clothing with big black boots and had black hair pulled into pig tails with pink tips. She also had some long hair fall down her back and tied at the bottom.

Miko looked up at the big green mech. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Bulkhead," the mech said slowly.

"Are you a car? I bet you're a truck. A moster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever use a wrecking ball for a punching bag?"

Hope chuckled, "I think she likes you Bulk."

Hope then looked down and recognized the other human femme. She smiled at her. "Hey kid. Val, was it?"

"You got it Hope," Valorie smiled back, "Nice to see you in one piece."

"Oh, you mean the cons? That was nothing," she said with a grin.

Raf then spoke up. "If you guys are robots, who made you?"

"Puh-lease," Ratchet groaned.

"Hey, easy on the kid Ratchet," Hope said to the medic. Ratchet just snorted at her.

Optimus then walked up from behind the humans as they turned around to face him.

"We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also known as autobots," he explained.

"Why are you here?" Valorie asked.

"To protect your planet from the Decepticons," Optimus answered.

"Those fraggers who tried to bump us off last night," Hope clarified.

"Language Hope," Ratchet snapped. Hope rolled her optics.

"Okay, so why are they here?" Jack asked.

Optimus leaned in to face the four better. "A fair question Jack. In part, they are here because our planet is uninhabitable; ravaged by centuries of civil war."

"Why were you fighting a war?" Raf asked.

"Foremost, over control of our world's supply of energy, the life blood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike. The combat was fierce, and endured for centuries. In the beginning, I fought alongside one I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted. And thus that Megatron lost his way." Optimus told the humans. Hope, remembering all the stories her Sire told her, felt a shiver go down her spine.

Everyone but Miko looked worried as she yawned, "Is there going to be a quiz?"

Valorie shot her a look. "Show some respect Miko."

Jack then asked, "So what does Megatron, or any of this, have to do with us?"

"Megatron has not been seen or heard from in some time. But if his return is imminent, as I fear, it could be catastrophic."

* * *

**(just outside** **Earth's atmosphere)**

A spacebridge floating in space activated as a green and blue light danced around the entrance. A futuristic aircraft came through and transformed, revealing a large silver mech.

"Decepticons!" Megatron yelled, "I have returned!"

**Author's Note: And that was chapter 3! And I have to confess, this is the longest update I have ever done in my fan fiction life lol! And I know in the chase scene it was suppose to be both vehicons chasing Arcee and Jack, but I wanted Hope to have her own little chase scene. So I decided to have the cons split up in this story. Anyway I hope you guys liked it and I hope to update again soon. Please review and send me any ideas you might have. Thanks again everyone!**


	4. Darkness Rising Part 2

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I'm back. Thank you to those who have reviewed and favoured this story. I Now bring you chapter 4! I hope you like it.**

**Summary: While the bots go on a mission, Hope and ratchet stay behind with the kids. **

**Warning: little bit of language, nothing serious lol**

**disclaimer: I don't own transformers, just OCs.**

**Transformers Prime: Hope**

**Chapter 4: Darkness Rising part 2**

* * *

**(Autobot Base)**

**"**And since you now know of our existence, I fear that of last night, the Decepticons know of yours." Optimus said as he finished briefing the children.

"Got it," Jack said, "If we see any strange vehicles, call 911."

Valorie shot her cousin a look. "Really Jack? I highly doubt that the police have had any experience with this sort of thing. Besides, what would you say, '911, I'm being chased by an alien disguised as a car?"

Jack glared at his cousin before turning back to Optimus. "Can we go now?"

"Are you insane?" Miko hissed, "I'm living a dream here in Botswana, and I will not let you or anyone else shatter it!"

"It is best that you four remain under watch," Optimus said, "At least until we can determine our enemy's intentions."

"Optimus,"Ratchet explained, "With all due respect, the human children are in much danger here as anywhere."

"Children?" Jack bristled.

"Shhh!" Valorie hushed.

"They have no protective shell," Ratchet explained. "If they go underfoot they will go…squish," he then brought his pede down causing the kids to flinch a little.

"Then for the time being, Ratchet, we must watch where we step," Optimus reasoned.

"Yeah Ratchet, I mean come on. It's not everyday we get company," Hope added.

Ratchet just grumbled. An alarm then sounded and a green light pulsed through the base.

"What's that?" Jack asked.

"It's Agent Fowler," Ratchet translated.

"I thought we were the only humans that knew about you guys?" Valorie asked.

"Special agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world," Optimus explained, "As he tends to visit only when there are _issues."_

_"_In other words, he likes to come here just to blow his top at us," Hope grumbled.

"It may be best if you four do not meet him at this time." Optimus told the humans. They took the hint and hid. The elevator beeped as the doors slid open and a middle-aged african american man walked out. He was immediately listing of all the _issues._

"7 wrecks, 34 fenderbenders, a three hour traffic jam, a major oil spill, a busted fire hydrant, and a particular note, numerous reports of speeding motorcycle of unknown make, a green european sports car, and a black and yellow customs muscle car. So, anything you want to get off your tin chest, Prime?"

"We have the situation under control, Agent Fowler," Optimus replied.

"They're back aren't they?"

"If you are referring to the Decepticons, I have doubts that they ever left. Your planet is much too valuable."

"Then it's time to wake up the Pentagon."

"Hear me Agent Fowler, we are your best, possibly your only defence against the Decepticon threat."

"Says you."

"Hey! If it hadn't been for Team Prime, you humans would have been at the con's mercy a long time ago!" Hope snapped.

"Hope!" Optimus said sternly. But Hope didn't listen as she approached the human.

"If anyone knows the Decepticons more, it's Team Prime. Not to mention the cons are way more advanced then your human technology. So whether you like it or not, we're your best option."

Fowler huffed at the femme, "Pretty big talk coming from the autobot _trainee_."

Hope could feel steam coming out of her audio receptors as she glared at Fowler.

"Hey fleshy! Did anyone get splattered on that freeway?" Bulkhead said, "Team Prime knows when to use force, and how much to use it." He then crushed a mechanical claw in his servo just to prove his point.

"Bulkhead! I needed that!" Ratchet snapped.

"Enough!" Optimus commanded. He then turned his attention to Fowler. "Military involvement will only result in catastrophe," Optimus implored. "Perhaps you can condone widespread human casualties Agent Fowler. I however, cannot."

"Then do us both a favour and handle this Prime. _Under_ the radar. Or I will." Fowler threatened. As he finished, he was already in the elevator and left.

"Primus I hate that guy," Hope growled.

"Pretty big bearings, for a human," Bulkhead stated.

"Agent Fowler is concerned for his world you two. As he should be," Optimus said.

The humans then stepped out of hiding just as a signal reached the computer.

"Blasted earth tech!" Ratchet exclaimed, "Cliffjumper's signal popped back online."

"Who's Cliffjumper?" Miko asked.

"Are you serious!?" Hope asked the medic.

"How is that possible?" Prime asked.

"It isn't," Ratchet said, "Another bug. The system's chock full of them."

"But what if it isn't?" Hope asked.

"If there's any chance Cliff's alive…" Arcee implored.

Optimus had the same idea we did. "Ratchet, prepare sickbay. We may need it." he ordered.

"Hey!" Miko yelled, "What can we do?"

"Remain with Ratchet and Hope." Prime said.

"Aww!" Miko whined.

"Uhh," Ratchet moaned.

Hope looked at her sire. "Sire, please let me come. If Cliff's still alive, I want to help."

"No Hope," Optimus said. "You're not ready yet."

"Not ready?! I just fought off a couple of Cons yesterday and came back in one piece!"

"That was just two," Optimus said, "There may be numbers when we get there. You stay here and assist Ratchet."

"But Sire…"

"My decision is final, Hope," Prime said sternly, "stay here." He and the autobots stood in front of the ground bridge as it lit up. Ratchet pulled a pouting Hope back towards the monitor.

"AUTOBOTS, ROLL OUT!" Optimus ordered as he and the bots transformed and drove off through the bridge. Hope watched the departure and sighed in frustration.

"He just worries for your safety Hope," Ratchet said.

"I know," Hope mumbled, "But does he have to keep treating me like a sparkling?"

Ratchet chuckled, "Sometimes he forgets. It's never easy for a sire to see his daughter grow up."

Hope just gave a small sigh, understanding what the doc meant.

"Uh, not meaning to break up the moment, but what just happened?" Jack asked.

The two bots looked and saw that the humans were still shocked with how the bots left the base.

Ratchet sighed and explained, "I transported them to the designated coordinates via the ground bridge."

"What's a ground bridge?" Raf asked.

Ratchet groaned. "A scale down version of space bridge technology. Since we don't currently possess the means or the energy required for intergalactic travel…"

"You're stuck here on Earth," Valorie finished.

"With the likes of you, yes," Ratchet said.

"Aww, but he means it in a good way, right Ratchet?" Hope said smiling giving him a nudge.

He gave her a look, but continued, "But I constructed the ground bridge to enable travel from here to anywhere on your planet."

"Whoa," Raf said.

"Nice," Valorie said. "Does it work on humans?"

"Naturally," Ratchet said.

"You mean I could just shoot on over and visit my parents in Tokyo?" Miko asked.

"Within moments. In fact allow me to send you there immediately, all four of you." Ratchet said with a smirk.

"Watch it Ratchet," Miko warned.

Hope snickered as Ratchet shot her a look. He grumbled and went to work on the monitor.

"Hey Hope," Miko asked, "Why did you call Optimus Sire? is he royalty or something?"

Hope chuckled, "No, Sire is our word for saying father."

"Wait! Prime's your dad?!" Miko asked looking a little shocked.

"Yep. Well, by adoption. He took me in when I was a sparkling."

"What's a sparkling?" Raf asked.

"it's our word for saying baby or young child. It comes before being a youngling." Hope explained.

"What's a youngling?"

_Oh boy, _thought Hope.

While Hope was trying to explain to the kids more about her heritage, Miko started walking around looking at a bunch of stuff. She came to a hub with lots of dials and buttons, "What is this anyway?" she asked.

"Broken, don't touch," Ratchet said shortly. she lowered her hand to a disk drive," Don't touch that either."

"Is there anything in here we can touch?" Jack asked.

Ratchet rolled his optics and looked at the screen just as an error window popped up.

"Why are you guys using human computers?" Raf asked.

"It certainly isn't by choice," Ratchet said, "It was handed down from the previous tenants when we inherited this former missile silo. I make modifications I see fit."

Just then more error windows popped up on the screens. Ratchet groaned.

"I think I can fix it," Raf said.

Ratchet gave the young boy a look, "Really?" he said disbelievingly, "You know this is complex technology don't you? I mean, it isn't a child's toy."

However, Raf was already working on his laptop and was inputting data in the system. "Now try," he said.

Ratchet looked at the monitor again and was shocked to see all the error windows disappear. He looked back at the young boy speechless.

Hope laughed, "You should see your face Ratchet."

Ratchet gave her a glance. Just then, Optimus, voice boomed from the monitor. "Ratchet, bridge us back! Use the arrival coordinates now!"

Ratchet quickly opened the ground bridge. Everyone watched as the bots rushed through with Optimus transforming to slow himself down. An explosion of some sort shot throughout he ground bridge causing the ground to rumble. The ground bridge then closed.

"Whoa," the humans said in unison.

"Cutting it a bit close, don't you think?" Ratchet said.

Hope ran over to the group. "Where's Cliff?" she asked worryingly.

The bots looked down sadly. Hope's spark sank. Just then Miko spoke up, "What was that explosion? Was there a fight? Can I come with next time?"

Arcee looked at her very sternly, "Look," she started.

"Uh, hey Miko. lets go see what the bots hide in their sock drawers," Jack said dragging Miko away.

"Seriously?" Miko responded.

"Arcee, what did you see?" Optimus asked.

"Not Cliff. At least, not anymore. He was mutated, butchered, like something from those Con experiments during the war," she said with a lot of hurt in her voice. Just then she nearly collapsed as she held herself against a box.

"Arcee!" Hope said worryingly.

"I'm fine," she said, "Just dizzy."

"Robots who get dizzy?" Miko scoffed.

"Robots with emotions," Raf said.

"Robots that feel pain," Valorie said.

"Robots who can die," Jack finished.

Ratchet was scanning Arcee. It scanned her servo and beeped. "Hmmm, what is this?" he asked.

"Don't know. Cliff was covered in it. Leaking it." Arcee said.

Ratchet scraped some off with his scalpel. "Go take a decontamination bath. Now."

Bumblebee and Hope helped Arcee up as she walked off.

"Optimus," Jack said, "I hate to bug but, no bars." he held up his cell phone.

"A security procaution," Optimus explained, "The silo walls isolate all radio waves."

"Well, if I don't call my mom, like now, I'm pretty sure the cops will be looking for me."

"Have you broken a law?"

"Um, curfew. It's after ten pm."

"It's that time already!?" Valorie asked worryingly, "Aunt June's gonna kill us."

"I better get home too, or I'll be grounded for a year," Raf said.

"Earth customs. I haven't considered," Optimus said apologetically, "But the issue of your safety remains. Bulkhead, you will accompany Miko home."

"Awesome!" Miko said excitingly, "My host parents will freak!"

"And maintain covert surveillance in vehicle form," Optimus added.

"Curb side duty, got it," Bulkhead confirmed.

"Aww," Miko sighed.

"Bumblebee, you'll watch over Raf," Optimus ordered. Bumblebee and Raf shared glances and smiled.

"Ratchet-"

"Busy," Ratchet said waving off.

Arcee then walked back in the room. "Arcee, you will accompany Jack and Valorie."

"Uhh, still dizzy," she said, trying to fake it.

"You're fine, says your physician," Ratchet told her.

Arcee huffed, "Everyone gets just one and I end up with two," she muttered.

Valorie then thought of something. "You know Optimus. Having two charges for Arcee might be challenging since me and Jack don't stick around each other very much. What if Hope comes along? She can watch over me while Arcee watches over Jack."

Hope perked up when she heard this. Optimus glanced at Hope, then at Valorie.

Arcee then spoke up, "It's not a bad idea Prime. Besides, I'll be with Hope most of the time while watching the kids." Arcee was really saying this cause she didn't want to be stuck with two humans by herself.

Optimus was quiet as he was lost in thought. He glanced back at Hope who then added, "Yeah Sire. You always say I should know more about humans. Why not learn about them by keeping an optic on one?"

Everyone was waiting for the Prime's answer. Finally he spoke. "Very well. Hope, you will accompany Arcee and watch over Valorie."

Hope was a little shocked when he said yes, "Really?" She asked in disbelief.

Optimus nodded. "Consider this your first mission outside of base."

Hope felt excitement in her. Sure it wasn't recon or anything like that, but it was a start.

"I won't let you down," she said to her sire with a smile. Prime smiled back, knowing his daughter would be just fine.

* * *

**(Time skips)**

Hope followed after Arcee and Jack with Valorie in her driver seat. Hope didn't want to say anything to Arcee knowing that she was too upset to talk. Hope also had to admit that she shouldn't have had her hopes high.

"Sorry about your friend, Hope," Valorie said.

Hope looked at Valorie through her rear view mirror. "Thanks Val. I wish you could have met him. He was quite the conversationalist and had a real knack for getting into trouble."

"He sounds like my big brother," Val said. Then sighed sadly.

"What's wrong?" Hope asked sounding concerned.

Val looked sadly at the car. "It's just that… my brother passed away about a year ago."

Hope was silent for a moment. Valorie continued, "I used to live in New York with my dad. The city was so big that my dad would always want my brother to stick with me. He would always talk to me and make me smile whenever I was down. He was always the one who would stick up for others. One day, he saw two people arguing with each other. It then turned violent as one attacked the other. My brother went to go help the man, but he didn't see the other man take out a knife and…" she trailed off as she began to cry.

"Hope's spark sank. "I am so sorry Val."

Val wiped away the tears, She then continued her story. "After the funeral, my dad wanted me to finish high school here in Jasper with my Aunt and Jack. He wanted me to be safe. That's why I'm here."

Hope was silent for a moment, and then she asked, "What was his name?"

"Connor," she said softly.

"He sounds like he was a good brother," Hope said, "And I understand how you feel. Cliff was somewhat of a brother to me. He would tell me many stories about his life on Cybertron. I remember one time…"

Hope then told Valorie her story on Cliffjumper as Valorie listened. They were both talking and laughing with each other the entire way. Hope felt so good having a friend to talk too.

Arcee and Jack were already way ahead, so when Hope pulled up in front of the house, Jack's mom was already lecturing Jack about 'his new motorcycle.' She then turned around and saw Valorie climbing out of a very expensive looking Maserati Grancabrio. She looked at her niece wide eyed.

"And where did you get this, young lady?" Jack's mom asked sternly.

"uh, I bought it," she said, "I got it cheap from a guy who didn't want it anymore," She lied.

"She got it the same place I got the bike," Jack added trying to save his cousin's skin.

June looked at Valorie, and then at the car. "You sure you didn't steal it?" June asked suspiciously. Who could blame her, it did look like an expensive car.

"I swear, girl scouts honour," Valorie said innocently holding up her right hand and putting her left over her heart.

June took another glanced at the car and sighed. "You can keep it. But you better drive responsibly young lady. I would hate to call your father."

Valorie nodded understandingly. June then turned to Jack. "And you, I better see you wearing your helmet. Evertime you ride." she said sternly. She then looked at the two and sighed. "Come on in before you two catch a cold." She turned and walked towards the garage with Jack and Valorie behind her, sighing in relief. "You two will take me for a spin sometime will you?"

"Sometime maybe," Val said as they closed the garage door with Arcee inside still in her alt mode.

Hope was chuckling at June's reaction. "And I thought Sire was over protective," she laughed. She stayed awake and kept watch before falling into recharge.

* * *

**Author's note: And that was chapter 4! I know, not the most exciting chapter. But the next one should be. The next chapter will be Darkness rising part 3. I hope to update again soon, so please review and if you have any ideas for this story, feel free to share. Until next time!**


	5. Darkness Rising Part 3

**Hey guys! Here is chapter 5! I hope you like it.**

**Summary: Fowler gets captured and Bulkhead goes to save him, as well as a certain trainee.**

**Warnings: Fighting scenes and cybertonian language.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own transformers, just OCs.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**(Outside of Jasper)**

Hope revved up her engine as she stared down at the empty road in front of her. She was up to her stunts again, but this time with a co driver. Valorie readied herself in the passenger seat with her seatbelt strapped on tight.

"You ready Val?" Hope said with a grin.

Valorie grinned, "Let's do this."

Hope shifted to drive, "Then hang on!" she said excitedly as she hit the gas pedal. All Hope left were skid marks on the road and a cloud of dust.

Valorie hung on for dear life at first, but she couldn't hide the smile on her face. She cheered on as Hope swerved around the turns.

"Am I going too fast for you?!" Hope asked loudly since her engine was loud, plus the wind blowing against her.

"Are you kidding?! Come on Hope, don't hold back on me!" Valorie grinned.

Hope laughed, "All right! You asked for it!"

Hope punched the pedal to the metal. Valorie felt like she was sinking into the seat cushion. Hope's turns even became sharper. Hope turned a corner and made herself do three three-sixties. Val laughed as she threw her hands up in the air. Hope gunned it and continued down the road. Both girl and femme were laughing and cheering as they drove off.

* * *

**(Autobot Base 2 hours later)**

The bots regrouped as they drove into base and into the main hangar where Optimus and Ratchet already were. Everyone was smiling and laughing.

"That was awesome!" Jack proclaimed as he got off Arcee.

"Sweet!" Miko cheered.

"Can we go again?" Raf asked Bumblebee excitingly.

Valorie got out of Hope, "What a rush!" she smiled.

Hope transformed and smiled back, "Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for being my co driver. You can ride with me anytime."

Valorie chuckled, "Fine by me, but do you think you can go easy on the sand dunes? I'm still picking sand out of my hair." She said as she tried to pick out the remaining bit of sand stuck in her braid.

Hope laughed, "Sorry 'bout that. I get carried away easily."

Just then a noise came from inside Bulkhead after he transformed. He opened up his chest plates and took out Miko's guitar case.

"Oops, sorry. Must have left that in the backseat," she apologized as she took it from him.

Optimus's spark warmed as he saw his autobots getting along with their human friends. Especially Hope. It made him happy to see her smile. However, he was concerned over a different matter.

"Autobots, prepare to…" Optimus started but trailed off. He was rethinking if it was safe for his bots. Not to mention, they now had the humans to look out for.

"Roll out?" Arcee asked thinking she was finishing his sentence.

"Remain here," Optimus decided. He then turned to Ratchet. "Ratchet, you'll come with me."

Ratchet nodded and grabbed some supplies. Optimus then turned to Arcee, "Arcee, we'll be outside commication range for some time. So I'm putting you in charge."

Miko looked up at Bulkhead. "Dude, you're biggest. You should be boss!" She said.

"He never picks me," Bulkhead stated, "Besides, I'm more into breaking stuff than leading people."

"Optimus, with all due respect, playing body guard is one thing. Babysitting is another," Arcee argued.

"HEY!" Jack exclaimed.

"Besides, Ratchet hasn't been in the field since the war," Arcee reminded.

"My pistols may be rusty, but my hearing is sharp as ever!" Ratchet said with his back still turned.

"For the moment, its only reconnaissance," Optimus stated.

"Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?" Arcee asked suspiciously.

"Arcee, much has changed in the last 24 hours. And we need to adapt," Optimus reminded her. He turned to Ratchet. "Ratchet, bridge us out." Ratchet activated the ground bridge which he and Optimus went through.

"Ok chief, what's on the activity list?" Jack asked.

Arcee rolled her optics, "I'm going on patrol." she said, walking towards the exit.

"But Optimus told us to stay," Bulkhead reminded her.

"When you're in charge, you can call the shots," Arcee shot back. "Bee, with me." She transformed. Bumblebee was a little hesitant to leave Raf.

"Don't worry Bee, I'll take care of him," Hope said to her big brother.

Bee smiled, "_Thanks sis._"

"Bulkhead, you're in charge," Arcee ordered as she drove off with Bumblebee behind her.

Bulkhead looked back at the humans, "So, whats on the activity list?" he asked sheepishly.

Just then a noise sounded causing everyone to turn towards Miko who was setting up her guitar. "How about band practice?" Miko offered.

"But we're not a band," Raf objected.

"Why so anti-social?" Miko asked, "Come on Raf. can you play anything?"

"Um," Raf thought then held up his laptop, "keyboard?"

"Laptops and symbols. Good. Jack?"

"I sometimes mess around with the harmonica," Jack confessed sheepishly.

"Do I look like I do country?" Miko asked getting into his face, "Just covers yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming." She then turned to Valorie. "What about you Val?"

"Ummm, I can sing a little?" Val confessed.

"hmmm," Miko said unsure, "Just do what Jack's doing."

"Gee thanks," Valorie grumbled sarcastically.

"Hope?" Miko asked.

"I'm no musician, but I wouldn't mind being what you humans call a group manager." Hope suggested.

Miko grinned, "let me guess, you want fifty percent of all profits, right?"

"Well since you're offering…" Hope countered with a smile.

"Keep dreaming," Miko snickered waving her off. She then turned to Bulkhead. "Bulkhead, procession. Go for a big industrial sound. D.I.Y.! We're a band! You just gotta learn the songs. This one's a ballad. My Fist, Your Face!"

She then started strumming the chords which caused everyone to flinch or cover their ears or audio receptors. Just then the proximity sensors went off.

"Whoa, Miko hold up!" Hope had to shout in order for Miko to hear her.

"Aww come on Hope. You cant handle raw power? Don't wimp out on me girl!"

"It's a proximity sensor," Bulkhead says. "Quick hide."

Jack, Raf, and Miko ran behind Bulkhead's leg while Valorie ran behind Hope's. The two bots watched as the elevator doors slide open with an angry Fowler storming out.

"Prime!" he yelled.

"Agent Fowler!" Bulkhead said innocently, "He's uh, he's not here. Nobody's here!"

"Except us of course!" Hope added trying to smile innocently, "How are you?"

Fowler looked at the femme strangely. She had never acted this chummy before. Especially not with him. What are they up too, he thought to himself. However he decided to get back to the matter at hand.

"Mad!" he said answering Hope, "Where did Prime go?" Fowler asked, but then added, "Wait, don't tell me. He's out pancaking a mini-mall!"

Hope and Bulkhead shared glances and turned back to the agent as he continued, "Now I don't know what language you speak on your planet but Prime promised you would handle the Decepticons!"

Bulkhead was trying his best to hide the kids, but Miko still had her guitar with her which was still plugged in to the amp.

"And blowing up a crate in the middle of Nebraska is NOT what the word 'handle' means in English!" Fowler shouted, "So you tell Prime…" Fowler trailed off when he heard the sounds of the electric guitar and saw the cord run from the amp to behind Bulkhead's leg.

"Since when are you bots electric?" Fowler asked suspiciously.

Hope and Bulkhead shared worried glances as the kids decide it was best for them to reveal themselves. Fowler watched in surprise as four kids stepped out from behind the bots.

"Wasup?" Valorie said sheepishly.

"Contact with Civilians," Fowler said in exasperation. "Team Prime has really gone overboard this time. Wait! Don't tell me! You're running a day care centre?"

"We're…interns," Jack quickly said.

"Student interns," Raf added.

"Earning extra credits in…" Valorie started.

"Robotics!" Miko finished.

Fowler didn't buy it. "Alight, lets move," he said making his way down the stairs towards the kids. "I'm taking you four into federal custody. It's for your own protection." He approached the kids until Bulkhead and Hope slammed their pedes in front of him.

"We're protecting them," bulkhead warned.

"And they're not going anywhere," Hope growled. Valorie had already grown on her, and she was not willing to lose her best friend.

Fowler glared at the two bots, "Is that so. Well maybe you can explain that to my superiors at the pentagon." He then made his way to the phone and picked it up.

"Don't use that phone, its…" Hope trailed off as Bulkhead reached down and crushed it with his digit. "Out of order," Bulkhead finished.

Fowler was furious, "This isn't over you two! Not by a long shot!"

Hope was already rushing him back to the elevator. "Yeah yeah, thanks for dropping by. Next time feel free to call first. Now beat it!" she said in annoyance as she watched him enter the elevator and leave. Once he was gone, she then turned to Bulkhead in realization. "We're in trouble aren't we?" she mumbled.

"Yep," He responded shaking his helm.

Val ran up to Hope, "Thanks for sticking up for us you two."

Miko ran up to Bulkhead, "Yeah! No way was I going to go with that hot head! No one messes with the band!"

Bulkhead and Hope chuckled, "what are friends for," Hope said.

Just then they heard the sensors go off. "My ears," Raf groaned covering them.

"It's an SOS… from Fowler," Bulkhead said. He looked at it confused and pressed something. The signal then stopped.

"Did you trace it?" Val asked.

"Location scan was incomplete," Bulkhead said, then shrugged, "Oh well."

"Oh well?!" Jack asked in disbelief.

"What, Fowler's a jerk," Bulkhead said.

"I can't argue with you on that Bulk," Hope said, "But whether we like the guy or not, the Cons may have him."

"And Agent Fowler knows your location," Valorie stated. Raf gulped as he stood beside her, "Our location," he said worryingly.

"And did you not see how fast Fowler backed down from a bot? The cons will totally make him squeal!" Miko added.

Bulkhead knew they had a point. "But we lost the transmission. Fowler could be anywhere." he said.

"Maybe I can narrow it down," Raf said as he pulled out his laptop and sat down. "About five years ago, the government started microchipping agents. You know, like owners do with pets."

Everyone was looking at him in disbelief.

"What?! I saw it on tv," he said, "Anyway, if I can hack into the feds main frame, maybe I can pinpoint Fowler's location."

"You know how to hack?" Valorie asked him.

"But you're like… tow years old!" Miko said.

"Twelve…. and a quarter," Raf said.

Hope mouthed the word 'Wow' to Bulkhead who nodded in agreement. The little hacker went to work. It took some time, but he was able to find the coordinates.

"His latitude is 39.5, longitude 116.9," he said. Bulkhead punched in the coordinates to the ground bridge.

"Okay, wait here," he told the kids, "Hope, you're in charge." he said.

"Bulkhead wait! You cant go by yourself!" Hope argued.

"Sorry Hope," he apologized before running out.

Before the ground bridge closed behind him, Hope thought of something crazy. She turned to Valorie. "Val, you're in charge!" Having said that, she ran after Bulkhead. _What are you doing Hope?_ she thought to herself. She was tired of being told to stay behind, and she didn't want Bulkhead to face the cons alone either. Yeah she was going to be in so much trouble, but she didn't care. It was time that she did her part.

She went through and found herself staring at the biggest ship she had ever seen. _The Nemesis_, she thought. The ship could hold hundreds of cons. She gulped feeling a little nervous, but quickly ducked behind a boulder so not to be seen. There were vehicons roaming around the perimeter on guard. She looked around and saw Bulkhead behind another boulder. He was staring at the ship and did a quick glance to the side. He did a double glance as his jaw dropped and his optics went wide once he saw Hope.

"Hope?!" he half whispered and shouted.

Hope inched her way towards him, avoiding to be seen. She managed to get behind the boulder beside him.

"What are you doing here?!" he whispered in shock and fury. "I told you to stay at the base!"

"And I told you that you cant do this alone!" she shot back in a whisper. "Whether you like it or not, I'm helping!"

Bulkhead groaned, "Prime's gonna kill me."

"Why? _I'm_ the one who snuck out," Hope reminded him.

Bulkhead placed his servo on his fore helm and shook his head, "Well, it can't get any worse."

Just then they heard a small voice from beside, "Alright, what's the plan?"

Both bots looked wide opticed at the little asian girl that had followed Hope through the ground bridge.

"Miko?!" Both said shocked.

Just then a vehicon spotted Miko and aimed his blaster at her. Miko looked alarmed, "unwise," she muttered to herself as she stared at the vehicon.

"Miko get down!" Bulkhead yelled.

Miko quickly jumped over the boulder just before the con blasted it to pieces. He was about to fire again at her until Bulkhead knocked him down. both went into servo to servo combat. However, this caught the attention of another vehicon. The Vehicon saw Miko and went after her. Hope took a deep breath and jumped out of hiding. She tackled the vehicon before it could even get to Miko. They both got back on their pedes as they continued sparring. He threw many punches at her, but she was able to dodge and block each one. She waited for an opening. She jumped and gave him a kick to the helm causing him to stumble back. But he quickly recovered and went for the attack.

Bulkhead had his still tackled to the ground. Miko came up with a rock in her hands as she approached the con's helm. "Hold him still!" she yelled. Sadly the little rock just bounced off the con's helm and he didn't even notice. Bulkhead picked Miko up and gently dropped her to the side. She watched as both got up and had their servos locked. Bulkhead thought of something.

"Miko, look away!"

"But.." she protested.

"Turn your head away!" he yelled as he reached into the con's chest plate and ripped out his wiring. He kept tugging until the con finally off lined. Bulkhead dropped the dead con and looked to see if Miko was alright. Just then he heard another noise. He looked and saw Hope sparring with another vehicon. The con tried to punch her, but stumbled forward. She quickly got behind and gave him a hard kick in the back. He went flying into the rock wall. The impact was hard as the wall began to crumble. Hope looked up and noticed some rock sticking out of the wall. She had an idea. As the con got up, she activated her blaster and fired at the wall above the con. The con looked up confused. The blast had loosened some of the bigger rocks and was plummeting down right at the con. The con didn't have time to react as he was in no time buried in a pile of boulders.

Hope looked around. Thankfully, it didn't attract anymore unwanted attention. She turned to Bulkhead who looked quite surprised. She then saw a vehicon approach the wrecker from behind and aim his blaster at Bulk's helm. Hope aimed her blaster. "Bulk get down!" She warned. Bulkhead was confused, but when he saw her aim her blaster towards him, he ducked. She fired three shots as they hit the vehicon right in the chest plate. the con fell back, off line. Bulkhead got up and looked at the con and then back at Hope with wide optics.

"Still think I should have stayed at base?" she said with a smirk.

Bulkhead finally gave a chuckle, "Not bad… for a trainee," he smirked.

Hope rolled her optics. Bulkhead picked up Miko and the three ran and hid behind a boulder. There Bulkhead decided it was time to call for reinforcements.

"Arcee, do you read?" Bulkhead commed.

_"__Loud and clear Bulkhead," _she responded.

"I have a situation."

_"__Bulkhead, they're children. Humans. Just, do whatever."_

_"_Actually…" Bulkhead started explaining the situation. There was a pause and then…

_"__You're where?! THEY'RE WHERE?!"_

"Look, Jack, Val, and Raf are still at base. They can bridge you back and then send you here. Just please hurry!" Bulkhead turned the comm off as they waited.

"What's taking them?" Bulkhead asked.

"I say we just storm the joint!" Miko suggested.

"We can't just charge in, we wouldn't last a cycle," Bulkhead told her.

"Dont tell me I snuck out here for nothing?" Miko grumbled.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me… What were you thinking, sneaking out of base?!" Hope snapped.

"What? you did it too," Miko reminded her.

"Yeah, well….. I had a good reason," Hope quickly said.

Just then they saw a ground bridge portal open up. "Good, they're here," Bulkhead sighed. However that sigh of relief turned into a gasp of shock.

"What the FRAG?!" Hope said wide opticed.

Out of the ground bridge was Jack, Valorie, and Raf.

Miko crossed her arms, "why don't those guys hang out with their own bots? Well, Hope is Val's bot so thats understandable, but seriously, this is our one on one time!" she huffed at Bulkhead. Hope rolled her optics.

"Do you feel your bones vibrating?" Raf asked.

"I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm gonna heave," Valorie said sounding and looking very sick.

Just then the vehicons on the ship noticed the three humans. "YOU THERE!" one shouted as they pointed their weapons at them.

"Frag, frag, frag, frag," Hope muttered to herself, "this is so not good."

* * *

**And that was chapter 5! I hope you liked it. Please review and feel free to share any ideas you may have. Until next time!**


	6. Darkness Rising Part 4

**Hey guys! Here is chapter six! Thank you so much for your reviews and for favouring and following this story. It took me a while to write this chapter and to come up with some stuff, but I did it lol. And I hope you like it.**

**Summary: The bots attempt to rescue Fowler, and gather some info as well.**

**Warnings: Cybertronian swearing and violence.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own transformers, just OCs.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Darkness Rising part 4

"This is so not good." Hope muttered.

The vehicons began firing at the three humans down below. The blasts separated Valorie from the two boys as one of the blasts knocked Val off her feet causing her to fall on her back. She looked up terrified once she saw another blast heading straight towards her.

"VAL!" Hope called out and ran for her best friend. Just before the blast reached Valorie, Hope scooped her up and jumped out of the way. Bulkhead transformed and picked up the two boys with Miko in the backseat. Hope transformed and placed Val inside and the two bots drove off trying to avoid getting hit.

"Thanks," Valorie gasped.

"What are you doing here?!" Hope demanded.

"Miko snuck out and we were worried." Valorie responded.

"And you thought it was a good idea to also sneak out?!"

Valorie crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow at the green car, "You did it too you know," Valorie reminded her.

"Don't put this on me!" Hope argued.

Hope and Bulkhead swerved behind a big rock. Bulkhead let the kids out. "And this time, stay here! Same goes for you Hope!" he ordered. He then drove off towards the Nemesis. The con's kept firing at the wrecker as he made his way towards them. Hope saw the cons shooting from the top of the ship. She activated her blasters and started firing.

"I got your back Bulk," she said.

She was able to take down five, maybe six cons as Bulkhead climbed up the side of the cliff and onboard the ship. Hope watched from afar as he took on the vehicons. Hope continued firing, but was careful not to hit Bulkhead. Some of the cons noticed Hope and started firing back at her. She ducked behind the rock as the blasts came at her. That was when she noticed there were only three humans with her.

"Uh, where's Miko?!" Hope asked.

The other humans looked at each other realizing they were missing one.

"I don't think she got out of Bulkhead," Raf said.

Hope face palmed herself. "You got to be kidding me?" she grumbled.

She continued firing at the cons until she heard Bulkhead shout, "Where's Miko?!" before she could answer, she could see the human climb out of Bulkhead. She saw more cons approach the former wrecker and human as she kept firing. She watched as Bulkhead tore of a satellite of some kind and throw it at the cons like a giant frisbee. He then picked Miko up as the two escaped into the ship.

Hope stopped firing and watched. The other humans were peaking around the rock with her.

"Think they forgot about us?" Raf asked.

Jack and Valorie shrugged.

"Don't worry," Hope said trying to comfort them, "We'll be okay as long as we don't get caught."

Just then she heard a humming sound coming from behind her helm. She turned around to see a blaster pointing right at her. There stood three vehicons aiming their weapons at the trespassers.

"We're in trouble," Hope deadpanned.

* * *

The three vehicons walked down the hallway with the prisoners they had captured. The two vehicons with the humans were first as the one pointing the blaster at Hope was last.

"Move it, Femme!" he demanded. He was even jabbing his blaster into her back.

"Do that again and I'll shove that thing up your aft," she growled.

He brought the blaster to her helm, "What was that?!" he warned.

"Enough!" the one in front demanded. The con growled and continued shoving Hope.

"Take them to the brig. Commander Starscream is keeping the other human there," The first vehicon ordered.

Just then a yellow muscle drove up and knocked the first two vehicons off there pedes. The humans were released and were falling until Arcee transformed and caught the boys. Hope quickly jumped and kicked the con's blaster away once he was distracted and caught Valorie in the knick of time. She used her other servo to activate her blaster and fire at the vehicon. He slammed into the wall from the impact and fell to the floor offlined. Hope let out a sigh of relief as she set Valorie down. She looked up and saw Arcee and Bumblebee approach her.

"_Are you okay Hope?" _Bumblebee asked worryingly.

Hope smiled, "I'm okay Bee. Thanks for the save."

"Appreciate you opening the front door for us, but storming the Decepticon Warship was not on the activities list." Arcee reprimanded lightly.

"Tell me about it," Jack agreed.

"_Hope, Prime's gonna kill you," _Bumblebee beeped worryingly.

"I can worry about that later. Right now we need to find Bulkhead and Miko," Hope said changing the subject.

The six ran down the hallway. Arcee cautioned everyone as she crept around the corner with her blaster ready. She heard a sound and pointed it at the source. The source was none other then Bulkhead.

"Friendly!" Arcee called out.

"Hello!" Bulkhead greeted with Miko in his servo.

Arcee sighed and deactivated her blaster. "Decided to bring Hope and the humans, huh?"

"YOU try getting them to stay behind!" he protested.

"We need to find Fowler, and get these kids out of here," Arcee said.

"He's in the brig," Hope reported.

"Then let's move," Arcee said.

They made their way towards the brig, but came to a group of vehicons waiting for them. The bots immediately went into battle. Hope was firing her blasters, but was caught in the middle with the four humans. _Focus, _she told herself. Another group of cons showed up from behind. There were blasts and smoke coming from all directions. She saw the humans trying to get out of the way as a blast was heading straight for them. Hope jumped over and moved them out of the way. She could feel the stinging heat from the blast as it grazed her arm leaving a mark. It felt a lot worst then training ammo. She tried to ignore the pain as she fired at the enemy. There were blasts coming from all around her as she tried to shield herself. _Concentrate, _she thought. She looked down and saw the scared expressions on the humans' faces. She had to protect them. She positioned herself in front of them and focused on the fire fight. _I can do this, _she told herself. She concentrated and fired at the enemy. She was able to take down three cons and dodged every blast. Even the bots noticed her fighting back and protecting the humans at the same time. They were impressed. Finally once the smoke cleared, there wasn't a con left standing. The bots and humans moved on.

Inside a monitor room, a group of cons were working until they heard banging coming from outside. One of the vehicons opened the door, but got blasted in the chest. The autobots stormed in and took out the cons one by one. Once it looked clear, Arcee called the humans inside.

"All clear," she proclaimed.

the four humans ran inside, relieved.

"You four wait here," Arcee said.

"_Is that such a good idea?" _Bumblebee asked worryingly.

"There slowing us down and their easy targets," Arcee said. She turned to Hope, "Stay with them," she said before running out with Bulkhead behind her.

_"__Be safe sis,"_ Bumblebee said before going after the two wheeler and the wrecker. The door closed behind him, leaving Hope and the four kids in the room.

"That, was intense!" Miko remarked.

"Was?" Raf asked.

"What were you thinking Miko, sneaking out of base?" Valorie said sternly.

"Did I ask you to follow me?" She asked snidely. "Besides, Hope snuck out first."

Hope glared at her. "Really?!" Hope asked in disbelief.

"You wanted us to be a band! Doesn't that mean playing together?" Valorie stated.

"Well maybe I decided to go solo," Miko shot back.

"Well, maybe we have some regards for your safety," Jack confessed.

"I'm sorry, is your name Optimus? You can leave my protection to Bulkhead! Thank you very much!"

What the four didn't realize was that Raf was getting upset from the argument, "STOP IT, ALL OF YOU!" he exploded. He then ran to a large step and sat down with his knees pulled close to his chest.

Hope and the others walked up to him and sat down beside the young hacker.

"Raf, everything's going to be okay," Hope reassured him.

"Yeah, we're going to be fine," Valorie added.

"The bots will come back for us. Plus we have Hope here with us," Jack assured him.

"Yeah, They're gonna take us home," Miko added.

"How do you know?" Raf asked.

"Because we promised to protect the four of you," Hope told the young hacker and then smiled. "And an autobot never backs down from a promise."

Raf looked up at the femme and smiled back, feeling a little better. Just then Jack noticed something on the monitor and turned to Hope.

"Hey, Hope. What's that?" he asked.

Hope looked up to where he was pointing and stood up. She walked towards the screen with the humans following her. It looked like an equation. She couldn't fully understand it, but she knew one thing.

"It's important. Really Important," Hope observed, "We have to show this back at base."

"You sure it's not a recipe for space nachos?" Miko questioned.

Hope gave her a puzzled look, "Uhh, No," She turned her attention back to the screen, "This is one serious equation. Ratchet would know what it's for."

"Can you download it?" Valorie asked.

"I can't," Hope said, "I need a hard drive of some kind. And if I mess around with the monitor, it could alert the cons that we're in here."

"I got a flash drive," Raf offered pulling it out of his backpack. He looked up at the monitor. "But I don't see anywhere to put it in. This tech is way alien."

Just then the five heard footsteps coming towards them. They turned and saw a vehicon walk by. Hope quickly motioned the humans to the corner so that they could hide. She turned and saw Raf running to get his backpack.

"_Raf!_" she whispered loudly, "_Leave it!"_

Raf grabbed is backpack and slipped it on. However, the con noticed the young boy and aimed his blaster at him. Raf looked up frightened as he tried to run. The con was ready to fire. Hope leaped out of hiding and knocked the con down to the floor.

"Pick on someone your own size!" she shouted. The con got up and attacked her. Hope and the con were fighting hand to hand combat as Hope tried to defend herself.

"Miko, take a picture!" she shouted at the girl.

"Great idea!" she exclaimed.

The con was able to kick Hope back and aimed his blaster at her.

"HEY YOU!" Miko shouted.

The con looked down as she snapped a picture of him. He was confused by this. Hope looked at the asian girl in disbelief.

"Wha… NOT OF HIM, OF THAT!" she exclaimed pointing at the equation on the screen.

"Oh," Miko said quietly.

Hope did a face palm before lunging herself at the con. The con tried to fire at her, but she dodged him. The blast hit the door giving the humans and bot the chance to escape.

"Go Go Go!" Hope shouted. The four humans ran out while Hope and the vehicon continued fighting. The con gave Hope a hard kick in the torso. She staggered back, but still kept her ground. _I can do this, _she told herself as she glared at him. The con ran at her and tried to hit her. She blocked all his punches and was able to find an opening. She sent him flying out of the room and into the hallway. He staggered up and saw the green femme running towards him. She gave a battle cry as she slammed her fist into his faceplate. He went flying back and hit the wall. Hope watched as he slumped to the floor motionless. His visor was cracked and he had a huge dent from where she hit him.

"That was AWESOME!" Miko exclaimed.

"ADDA GIRL HOPE!" Valorie cheered.

Whoa," The boys said quietly.

Hope gave a smile to the four humans. They then heard tires squeal as the bots came around the corner.

"I told you to stay put!" Arcee said.

"YOU try staying in a room with a con trying to kill you!" Valorie said.

"Did you find Fowler?" Hope asked.

"I like pie," Hope heard as she saw Fowler poke his head out of Bumblebee's window, "can we stop for pie," he asked before slumping back in his seat.

Hope stared at him awkwardly for a second before asking, "Is he gonna be okay?"

"He will be once we get him to Ratchet," Arcee said. "Now lets roll."

Jack hopped on Arcee, Miko climbed into Bulkhead, Raf got into Bumblebee, and Valorie climbed into Hope. They drove off and they didn't stop as they exited the ship and drove back home.

They arrived at base a few minutes before Optimus and Ratchet called for a bridge. Once the Prime and medic walked in, Hope immediately noticed how beaten they looked.

"Are you two okay?" she asked approaching them.

Optimus looked at his daughter and gave a small smile, telling her he was okay.

"We'll be fine Hope," he said assuring her. His smile faded when he noticed the scorch mark on her arm. And this was no scorch mark from training ammo either. Hope realized her Sire saw the mark as she tried to cover it with her servo. Optimus looked at her and could see guilt in her optics. He then noticed everyone else was scratched up and Fowler laying on a gurney out cold.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Everyone had no choice but to report to their leader everything that had happened. Everyone tried to take the blame. Optimus listened to every word, and once it was said that Hope snuck out after Bulkhead, Hope could see the disappointment in his optics. Ratchet checked up on Fowler before tending to Optimus and himself.

"What happened to you guys anyway?" Miko asked.

"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian Warriors," Ratchet said.

"Zombies? You fought zombies and I missed it?!" Miko shouted as she stomped her foot.

Optimus, who was still upset over the matter walked over to Bulkhead. "Bulkhead, you exercised extremely poor judgement in allowing Hope and the humans to accompany you," he berated.

Bulkhead looked at his leader solemnly, "It won't happen again Optimus, I promise," he said.

Hope stepped in, "But it wasn't Bulkhead's fault. I was the one who snuck out," Hope said.

"Hope, please," Bulkhead whispered urgently.

"And check it out!" Miko said as she whipped out her phone and showed Prime the picture of the equation, "Recon!"

Optimus knelt down to get a better look, "Hmmm, Ratchet, have a look. It may be of importance to Megatron."

"Megatron's back?" Valorie asked.

"That can't be good," Jack added.

Ratchet took a look at the picture. He looked confused. "I don't understand," he said.

Miko looked at the picture and realized that she accidentally changed it to the pic of the vehicon.

"Oops. Thats the con that tried to blow Raf away. At least thats what he looked like before Hope rearranged his face!" she grinned.

"Miko! Raf was almost killed! This isn't a game! When are you going to get this through your thick skull?!" Jack scolded.

"Um, we were all almost killed Jack," she said glaring at him, "You, me, Val, Raf, even them."

"Well, if this was just another day with the autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it. Not anymore," he replied.

Optimus looked at the teen and understood his concern, "Jack, putting you in harms way was never our intent. However it is no longer the safety of you four that is at risk, but the safety of all humankind. But it is your decision if you wish to leave."

Jack then turned to Valorie, "Come on Val," he said.

Valorie gave him a glare, "Hold on, who said I was leaving? No way I'm running out on them. Besides, I have Hope keeping an eye on me."

Optimus looked at the human girl and decided to tell her and Hope his decision, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but Hope will no longer be your guardian."

Both the femme and the human looked at each other and then at the Prime with wide eyes/optics. "WHAT!?"

"Sire, what are you saying?!" Hope demanded.

Optimus turned to his daughter with sternness in his optics, "You have disobeyed a direct order and put yourself and the humans in danger. I am not convinced that you are ready for such a responsibility."

"But that's not fair!" Hope protested.

"And it wasn't Hope's fault that we snuck out. She told us to stay at base and we didn't listen," Valorie added.

"If she had stayed at base like she was suppose to, then this could have been easily avoided," he said to the human.

"I couldn't let Bulkhead go alone! I was doing what I thought was right!" Hope snapped.

"I have made my decision," Optimus said sternly.

Just then Ratchet opened the ground bridge, "No need for long goodbyes, here's the door," he said.

Jack turned to Valorie, "Come on, we have to be home now anyway." he said.

Valorie was about to protest, but what was the use. She turned to Hope who had a sad expression on her face plate.

"Hey, I'll see you around, Kay?" Valorie said.

"Yeah," Hope said softly slumping her shoulders, "Sure."

Valorie and Jack made their way down. Jack looked at Arcee. "I know, you don't exist," he said.

"Don't make me hunt you down," she reminded him. She too had a sad expression on her faceplate. The bots and humans watched as the two disappeared into the ground bridge.

Hope turned to her Sire with fury as he walked away, "Why don't you just admit it?"

Optimus turned to Hope still with sternness, "Enough Hope." he said.

Hope continued, "No! Admit that you don't want me to help! Why won't you let me?! Because I'm a femme?! What is you're problem with me fighting?!" she demanded.

"Enough!" he said louder. "You are not ready and that's final!"

Hope growled under her breath in frustration. "Fine! Don't tell me!" She then transformed and sped out of the hangar and out the base exit.

"HOPE!" Optimus called out. The femme ignored her Sire as she accelerated and sped off outside. Optimus' sternness dropped as he watched his daughter make her exit. His spark sank. I _don't know what to do anymore, _he thought to himself. Did he make the right choice?

* * *

Hope drove off with road rage. She had never been so mad in her life. She continued down the road until she received a call. She checked the ID. It was Valorie. She opened her comm link and answered.

"Val? You okay?" She asked.

"_I'm fine. I wanted to see how you were doing." _Valorie's voice said through Hope's comm link.

_"__I'm fine," _Hope lied,_ "I'm out driving now." _Hope said,

_"__I'm out walking right now. Do you want to pick me up so that we can talk?"_

_"__Sure. Where are you?"_

Valorie gave Hope her location. She drove into town and picked up the human girl.

"Where too?" Hope asked.

"Anywhere I guess," Valorie said.

Hope drove off and drove out of town. She didn't care how far she was from base, she just wanted to drive far away. The sun was already setting.

"I'm sorry I got you in trouble," Valorie apologized.

"It's not your fault Val," Hope said. "I don't know, maybe what I did was stupid."

"You did it to help Bulkhead. You were doing what you thought was right," Valorie told her. "And you were amazing out there. You were even able to protect us from the cons."

"My sire doesn't seem to think so," Hope grumbled.

"He's like any other dad Hope, "Valorie said, "He just doesn't want you to get hurt. My dad's the same way. That's why I'm here in Jasper with my aunt and Jack, where pretty much nothing happens."

"Hey, it's getting late. I should probably get you back home before your Aunt starts to worry," Hope said.

"That's probably smart," Valorie said checking the time. She then looked up and noticed something. "What's that?" she asked her former guardian.

Hope was about to pull around until she noticed what it was Valorie saw. It was a faint blue glow.

"Let's check it out," Hope said.

She drove off road towards the glow. It felt like an hour just driving over there, but it took them only ten minutes.

They found themselves in a canyon as they approached the light. Hope let Valorie off as she transformed and walked over to a boulder. She peaked around the corner and gasped. She and Valorie stumbled across an energon mine with cons mining huge stock piles of energon. Hope wanted a closer look.

"Wait here," she told Val.

"What are you going to do?" Valorie asked.

"I'm going to get a better look. I'll be right back."

Hope snuck her way out from behind the boulder and made her way closer. She looked out and noticed the huge stocks of energon being hauled through a ground bridge portal. She had never seen so much energon before in her life. She noticed the vehicon closest to her as she tried to ease drop on what he was saying.

"We must transport as much Energon we can!" he commanded, "We need it all for Lord Megatron's space bridge."

_Space bridge? _thought Hope. What is Megatron up too? She decided it was wise to contact base and tell them the situation.

"Hope to base, do you…ugh!" she was cut off when something hit the back of her helm sending her unconscious. The last thing she remembered was being dragged by the arms before everything went black.

* * *

**And that was chapter 6! I hope you liked it. I hope to update chapter seven soon. It takes me a while to come up with stuff for a chapter so I'll try and do the best I can. Please review and if you have any ideas for this story, feel free to share. Until next time!**


	7. Darkness Rising Part 5 (part 1)

**Hey everyone! I am so sorry for the long wait! I have been busy with life and it took me forever to figure out how to write this chapter. But I have done it, and to make it up to you guys, I posted two chapters for you today. A big thanks to Kristen Verne and BlueStar19 for sharing me their ideas, it really helped out, thank you guys so much. And now without further ado, I give you chapter seven of Transformers Prime: Hope. Enjoy!**

**Summary: Hope tries to find a way of escape and to warn the bots of Megatron's plans.**

**Warning: cybertronian swearing and violence.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, just OCs.**

* * *

chapter 7

(Autobot Base)

It was quiet at the base. Bumblebee and Bulkhead went to drive the kids home while Arcee went for a drive. Ratchet was studying the equation that Hope and the kids found on the Decepticon warship while Optimus was standing next to the monitor lost in thought. It had been almost three megacycles (hours) since Hope drove off. He thought he did the right thing by relieving Hope from looking after Valorie, but now he wasn't sure. Yes, he was disappointed that she snuck out against his wishes, but she did it because she didn't want Bulkhead to go alone. Even the bots were trying to convince him she was a great fighter and had made sure the humans were protected. Now he was lost in thought over the whole matter.

Ratchet looked up and noticed the Prime looked troubled. He walked over to his leader and stood beside him.

"I know that look, Optimus," his old friend told him.

Optimus kept his back turned, but decided to tell the medic his thoughts, "Of all my years of being a Prime, leading and fighting to protect my fellow Autobots, I never thought my biggest challenge was to be a Sire."

Ratchet sighed, "I know what you're going through Optimus. I've been in your place before," Ratchet said.

Optimus finally turned to face his friend. He then asked, "How did you know when Flareup was ready?"

Ratchet let out a soft chuckle, "I knew she was ready when SHE knew she was. When she told me she wanted to help fight for the Autobots, I was worried out of my processor. But she knew she was ready. She ended up being her team's best warrior. And I've never been so proud in my life."

Optimus pondered on this and sighed, still unsure as he glanced away from the medic.

Ratchet continued, "I know what Hope did was wrong, but she did it to help the team. The bots even said she fought well and was willing to protect the children."

"But she's still young," Optimus said.

"So was Bumblebee when he started," Ratchet reminded the Prime. "I know it's hard Optimus, but you must face the fact that she's no longer the sparkling you found vorns ago, but now the femme you raised her to be."

Optimus remembered when he first met Bumblebee. He was still very young, probably around Hope's age when he joined Team Prime. And now Hope was wanting to contribute. And as much he hated to admit it, she was now old enough to make her own decisions. But that wasn't the only thing he feared.

"You are right old friend, she is no longer a sparkling. But I still worry for her safety. If the Decepticons ever found out that she's my daughter, she would become one of their biggest targets. I worry that I won't be able to protect her because of it," he told the medic.

Ratchet knew the Prime had a good reason to worry, but he continued, "But does that mean hiding Hope here and keeping her from what she wants to do? Optimus, you have to remember that you were the one who trained her to defend herself. She knows the dangers she will have to face. That's why she trains intensely everyday, to prepare herself for anything. She shows that she is committed into being an autobot and to help the cause. But you have to let her have the chance to prove it."

Optimus looked at the medic, remembering when Hope first asked him to train her. At first he taught her how to defend herself, but she kept asking to advance with offence. Prime soon taught her how he fought from how to shoot a blaster, to servo to servo combat. And when he wasn't able to train her, the others would train with her. Every single day she would train, pushing herself to be the best. There were times she would advance which would leave her struggling and tired. But she wouldn't give up. She would keep pushing until she got it right. She was truly devoted to her training, because of what she wanted to be. A warrior.

Optimus sighed and glanced away. If Megatron were to ever find out about Hope, he would use her to get to him. And if anything were to happen to her, he would never forgive himself.

* * *

(On the Nemesis)

Hope slowly regained consciousness. She tried remembering what had happened. She had a fight with her Sire, she picked up Val and the two went for a drive, they saw a weird glow which turned out to be an energon mine, she went to investigate while Val stayed behind, she then heard something about a space bridge and was about to call base when….

She moaned at the pain she had in her helm. She slowly opened up her optics. She was in a dark room with a single light shining above her. She tried to move, but found herself dangling above the floor thanks to the electrical clamps that were clamped around her wrists.

She tried to break free, but it was no use. She was scared but she didn't want to show it to who ever decided to walk into the room. She didn't know what was going to happen to her. She remembered Something. Valorie! _What happened to Valorie? _she thought, _Is she safe?_

Just then the door opened. Hope looked up and saw three figures walk in. Once they got closer to the light, Hope could make out what they looked like. The one on the far left had a visor covering his whole faceplate. He was slim and had dark armour with a bit of purple glowing on some parts of it. The one on the far right was a seeker. He too was slim and had grey and silver armour with a little bit of red and glowing red optics. But it was the one in the middle that made Hope freeze.

This mech towered over the other two, and looked way more menacing. He had silver armour with the Decepticon emblem in the centre of his chest plate, and blood red glowing optics. Standing before her was the con she heard many stories about from the others. The one everybot feared the most. The Decepticon warlord himself. Megatron.

Fear crept into Hope's spark. Megatron was more intimidating then she thought. Once the other two walked in, the door sealed shut behind them. The Decepticon leader walked up to the femme while the other two stood back and watched. Hope pushed all her fear back and glared at the con.

Megatron looked at the femme, "Good, you're awake." His voice sent a shiver down Hope's spine. But she kept her glare on him as he studied her. He smirked, "I heard that the Autobots had a new recruit, though I was expecting more. Don't tell me the autobots are so desperate that they're now recruiting younglings into their ranks, are they?"

"I'm not a youngling," Hope growled, "And they have nothing to be desperate about. You should never underestimate the Autobots."

Megatron darkly chuckled at her. "Is that so. You certainly have spirit, little one. But tell me, do your fellow autobots know where you are?"

Hope almost dropped her glare. She didn't know if they knew where she was. If Valorie was still okay, she should have contacted base. She kept her glare on him.

"Yeah, they know where I am. What, you thought I was alone? How do you know I didn't have back up?" She half grinned.

Megatron gave her a grin and gestured towards the door. "You mean, _this_ back up?"

Hope was confused until a vehicon walked in. But what he had in his servo was a squirming Valorie. Hope looked wide optic as her friend tried to break free. _Frag._

"After you were discovered snooping around, my troops scouted the area and discovered your little friend trying to call for help." He then leaned in closer to Hope's faceplate. "So, you still think the Autobots know where you are?" he smirked.

Hope glared at him. "They will find out one way or another. They will come looking for us."

Megatron stood up straight and laughed. "I highly doubt it. You might as well face it youngling, they've abandoned you." He began walking away.

Hope was furious. "You're wrong!" She snapped, "They're not like you! They never leave a bot behind! My Sire would never….!"

Hope stopped mid sentence once she realized what she just said. Megatron even stopped in his tracks. Fury was replaced with fear.

Megatron glanced at the femme with his optical ridge raised. He was lost in thought as he glanced away.

He turned to the vehicon. "Put the human in the cell next door." he ordered. He then turned to the seeker on his right. "Starscream, see if you can gather any intel from our guest."

The seeker gave a bow, "As you wish, my liege."

He then turned to the other mech. "Soundwave, you will assist with me with the preperatations for the space bridge. We must make sure everything goes according to plan."

Soundwave didn't say anything, but simply nodded.

Megatron then turned to Hope one last time and grinned cruelly. "Word of advice, make yourself comfortable. You're going to be here a while." He then turned and left the room with the vehicon and Soundwave following behind him.

Starscream approached Hope with a cruel grin. "Now, how are we going to do this? Are you willing to cooperate?" he then took out a prod and turned it on. Hope watched as electricity danced around the end. "Or must I force it out of you?"

Hope glared at him, but grinned, "Sorry High Heels, but I was told never to talk to strange mechs," she said playfully.

Starscream glared at her for a moment, and then smirked, "So, that's how it's going to be."

He then jabbed the prod into Hope's torso. Hope screamed as the electricity sent multiple shocks throughout her body. Starscream had the prod against her for five seconds until he finally pulled it away. Hope had never felt so much pain before in her life. She tried slowing her spark rate down as she glared at the seeker who was grinning at her reaction.

"Shall we try that again?" he smirked menacingly.

* * *

Megatron made his way to the main control centre. There he looked out the giant window and out into space. After seeing the prisoner, there was something on his mind.

He remembered a long time ago a rumour was spread out. One that he had brushed aside until now. A Decepticon spy was spying on a scouting mission in Tyger Pax led by Optimus himself, and witnessed Optimus pulling a femme sparkling out from the wreckage. Rumour had it that Optimus was raising the sparkling as his own. After so long, Megatron brushed aside the rumour. But after what the femme had almost said, he was reconsidering if the rumour was true. She looked young enough to be a sparkling around that time. Could she be the sparkling Optimus found so long ago?

* * *

(Autobot Base)

Optimus woke up from his recharge. He sat up and sat on the edge of his berth for a moment. Something didn't feel right. He got up and walked out of his hangar. He walked by Hope's hangar and decided he wanted to talk to her about the night before. He knocked on the door.

"Hope?" he asked.

Nothing. He knocked again. Still nothing. He finally opened the hangar door and looked inside. But there was no one in the hangar. Figuring she might have gone to the main hangar, he closed the door and left the room. He walked into the main hangar where everyone else was present.

"Good morning," he told every bot. Every bot turned to him and said their good mornings to the Prime.

"Optimus," Ratchet spoke up, immediately getting the Prime's attention, "The equation that Hope and the kids discovered on the Nemesis, they're engineering specs for a Space Time vortex Generator."

"Megatron is building a space bridge," Optimus realized.

"The sooner he leaves, the better," Bulkhead commented.

"I'm afraid Megatron has no intension of leaving any time soon," Optimus told the former wrecker. "Knowing him, he will plan to use it for something greater."

"The main event," Ratchet said.

Optimus nodded. He looked around and noticed some bot was missing. "Has anyone seen Hope?" he asked.

Everyone glanced at one another. Bumblebee beeped,"_We haven't seen her since she drove off last night."_

"She probably went for her morning drive before any of us got up," Bulkhead guessed.

"I don't know," Arcee said, "Her Hangar is right next to mine. If she left this morning, I would have heard her walking by. And I was up pretty early this morning. She must still be recharging."

Optimus pondered on what they were saying and was beginning to worry. _Did Hope come home at all last night? _he thought. He then spoke up, "She's not in her hangar. I checked."

Everyone started to look worried and concerned.

"_Then where could she be?" _Bumblebee asked.

Just then, a call came from the monitor. Ratchet checked the caller ID.

"It's Jack," he said sounding puzzled.

Arcee walked over to the console and answered. "Everything okay Jack?" she asked.

"Hey, I'm calling to see if Val's there. I haven't seen her since last night and she won't answer her cell. Is she with you guys?" Jack's voice asked through the monitor.

Everybot glanced at each other speechless. First Hope disappeared, and now Valorie? What was going on?

* * *

(The Nemesis)

Hope had been tortured for almost two hours before she fell into stasis. She had scratches all over her and had energon leaking out of her mouth. But no matter what the seeker did, she refused to share any intel. The only time she would talk was just to insult him. It wasn't until she finally went unconscious that he gave up and left her hanging in the cell.

She was out for mega cycles and just hung there moitionless. Two vehicons finally walked in. They were given orders to escort the prisoner to a holding cell until further notice. One approached her and slapped her faceplate.

"Hey, Wake up!" he demanded.

She didn't move or make a sound. The other one walked to the console that was controlling the clamps around her wrists. "Looks like the little torture treatment left her in stasis. Guess we'll have to drag her to her new cell." He then pressed a button and watched as Hope dropped to the floor on her side. She still didn't budge.

Both reached to grab her. Just then the femme opened her optics and jumped back on her pedes. The vehicons were shocked and didn't have time to defend themselves from her. She activated her wrist blades and struck one in the torso, and the other at the throat. Both staggered back as she activated her blasters and fired at them, both in the spark chambers. Both dropped to the ground off lined.

She deactivated her blasters. She had been conscious for quite some time, so she decided she would pretend she was in stasis until they finally removed the clamps off her. She ran out the door, checked to see if there were any more cons, and ran to the door next to her. She opened the cell door and found Valorie inside sitting in the middle of the cell. Valorie looked up worried at first, but was over joyed to see who it was.

"Hope!" she smiled, "Am I glad to see you."

Hope smiled back, "Let's get out of this funhouse."

Valorie got up and ran out of the room. She then noticed all the scratches on Hope's body.

"What did they do to you?" she asked worryingly.

Hope looked down at herself but waved it off, "Nothing serious. I'll live. But right now we need to get out of here."

Valorie then remembered what she heard earlier, "We cant just drive out like last time. The ship is already out of Earth's atmosphere. I over heard some of the cons say something about a space bridge and that they were heading there to bridge Megatron's army from Cybertron. It's probably happening now as we speak."

Hope looked a little confused, "Army? But Cybertron has been deserted for centuries. How could he get an army from a dead planet?"

"I don't know," Valorie said, "but they mentioned something about Dark Energon. But I have no idea what that is."

Hope pondered for a bit until her optics went wide. She remembered a scary story she used to hear when she was little. "Dark Energon. Val, remember last night when my Sire and Ratchet came back. They said they engaged an army of undead warriors."

Val looked confused, "Zombies? Yeah, I remember. But what does that have to do with Dark Energon?"

"Because Dark Energon is said to reanimate the dead," Hope said. "Dark Energon is what made those zombies Come to life. And if Megatron's planning on opening a bridge to Cybertron…" Hope stopped as a big chill went down her spine.

"Then what?'' Val asked worryingly.

"We have to contact base now!" Hope said. She then transformed and had Valorie climb inside. She sped off down the hall.

"Where are we going?" Valorie asked.

"We have to find a communication centre in order to contact the bots," Hope told her.

"Can't you just contact them on your commlink?"

"I can't. This ship has some sort of shield that blocks out all comm links on board. It's also the reason why we can never detect the ship's where a bouts."

"So the bots have no idea where we are?" Valorie asked.

"Not yet. But once we contact them, we'll find a way off this space boat."

They turned a corner and drove down the hallway. Just then a couple of vehicons walked out of a room and noticed the green vehicle driving straight for them. they activated their blasters and started firing at Hope. Hope dodged each blast and transformed. She kicked a vehicon right in the chest plate and watched as he skidded across the floor on his back. she got into a defence pose as the other tried to take a few swings at her. She waited for her opening and gave him a hard blow to the torso. He staggered back as Hope gave him a punch to the helm, knocking him out. She saw the other one charge at her as she did a duck and roll out of the way. She then jumped into the air and gave him a roundhouse kick to the face plate. He staggered back as Hope activated her blaster and fired two shots at him. He finally collapsed to the floor.

Hope turned to continue until she heard a knocking noise coming from somewhere. She looked around confused, but realized it was coming from… her? _Oops_, Hope thought realizing who it was. She opened her chest plate and saw Valorie stick her head out, gasping for air.

"Next time… give me a heads up," she gasped in between.

"Sorry bout that," Hope said sheepishly as she placed Val on the floor. Val crouched down trying to get some air back into her head.

Hope then heard footsteps coming from beside her. She looked up just as a vehicon tackled her to the ground. Valorie ducked and took shelter behind one of the offlined cons. Hope kicked the vehicon off her and got back on her pedes. They fought servo to servo as Valorie watched. Hope got kicked back by the con as he aimed his blaster at her. She dogged him and used her wrist blade to slice off his blaster. The con was furious as he tried to strike at Hope with his one servo. Hope quickly grabbed his arm, heaved him over her shoulder, and with all her strength slammed him into the floor. The con was dazed from the impact, he looked up to see Hope kneeling over him.

"Nighty night," she smirked as she punched his lights out. She stood up just as she heard more pede steps coming around the corner.

Two more vehicons came into view. Hope activated her wrist blades and got into a battle stance. They fired at her as she ran at them, dodging each blast. They finally deactivated their blasters and charged at her. One tried to take a swipe at her face plate, but she quickly dodged him, placed her pede behind his, and knocked him down. Because her pede was behind his, this cause the con to lose his balance and fall to the floor. Before she could do anything else to him, his buddy tackled her. He was able to grab her from behind by the arms as the other got up and approached her. He was about to give her a punch to the face plate, but she quickly jumped and flipped herself over the vehicon holding her, causing the other to punch his comrade instead. The con let go of Hope and slumped to the floor. The other looked down at his friend, but was slow to look back up at the femme, who gave him a sucker punch. He stumbled back as she repeatedly punched and kicked him without pause. When he tried to strike back, she gave him a huge upper cut, sending him flying and skidding to the ground, out cold. Hope smiled triumphantly, but didn't notice the other con getting back up. She turned around to see him aiming his blaster at her. But before either of them could do anything, several shots came from the side, each hitting the vehicon square in the chest plate. One hit his spark chamber, off lining him. Hope watched as the body fell to the floor. Confused by what had happened, she turned to see Valorie balancing and aiming the blaster that Hope had sliced off the one con. Valorie looked at the dead con and then at the blaster. She smiled big.

"I am so keeping this!" she grinned. Though she nearly lost her balance do to the size of it.

Hope laughed. "Let me fix that for you," she said as she walked towards the human. She took the blaster and sliced the long barrel in half with her blade, making it small enough for Valorie to handle. She handed it back to Valorie and smiled, "That should make it easier. You can even ask Ratchet to touch it up for you once we get back."

Valorie grinned. Even though it was still big, the blaster was now lighter for her to carry. "Thanks."

Hope looked around before she transformed. "Hop in. Lets find that communication centre," she said.

Valorie climbed in with her new blaster and the two drove off, leaving the mess they left behind.

* * *

(Autobot Base)

"I can't get a reading on Hope's signal anywhere," Ratchet reported. "And unless Valorie is using her cell phone, I can't locate her position either."

Everyone but Arcee was present in the main hangar. Even Miko and Raf were present. Arcee decided to join up with Jack to help him find Valorie.

"You don't think Hope got captured by the cons do you?" Raf asked.

Bumblebee was fuming at the idea, "_If those cons lay one digit on her, I'll tear them limb from limb!" _he beeped pounding his fist onto the table, accidentally crushing one of Ratchet's surgical tools.

"BUMBLEBEE, I NEEDED THAT!" The medic fumed.

Bumblebee didn't care, "_I don't care! Hope is out there somewhere and for all we know, she could be hurt or…"_

"Bee, calm down," Bulkhead said putting his servos on the scout's shoulders. "We'll find Hope. Besides, she's a tough femme. I doubt the cons would even dare mess with her."

Bumblebee was able to calm down, but he was still worried sick for his little sister.

Optimus glanced worryingly at the screen. If Hope was indeed captured, then he prayed that they didn't know who she was.

"Ratchet," he said, "Keep surveillance up for any sign of Hope and Valorie."

The medic nodded and went back to his work. Optimus continued looking at the screen worryingly. "Please be okay, Hope," he prayed.

* * *

(Jasper NV)

Jack and Arcee rode down the road, hoping to find any sign of Hope or Valorie. Jack was beginning to worry.

"This is all my fault," he said, "It's my fault she was upset and that she wanted to go out for a walk. I should have stopped her," he said.

"Jack, don't blame yourself," Arcee told him, "We'll find her, and Hope."

Jack sighed, "I just didn't want the both of us to get caught in an alien war. I just wanted her to be safe. Now, I'm not sure if I did the right thing."

"You're always welcome to come back Jack," Arcee told him.

"Thanks Arcee, but as much as I respect the team, there's nothing I can do to help," he said glancing away.

"You were able to gather intel from the Decepticon warship. That was helpful," Arcee pointed out.

"Well yeah, but…"

"Jack, I just lost someone I care about. Maybe it's the grief talking, or maybe you're growing on me. Whatever it is, I'm just not ready to say goodbye."

Jack glanced back at the motorcycle. As much as he wanted to ignore it, he wanted to come back. The last two days had been exciting. Both he and Val made friends with alien robots. Who gets to do that every day? Even though he and Arcee got off to a bad start, she was starting to grow on him also.

He smiled, "Maybe I'm not ready to say goodbye either."

The two drove off as they continued there search.

* * *

(The Nemesis)

At the communication centre, there were three cons working at the monitor. They then heard a tiny knock outside the door. All three looked at the door as one activated his blaster and walked towards it. He opened the door, but saw no one. He then heard a cough from down below. He looked down and was surprised to see a human girl standing there looking back up at him.

"Special delivery!" she smiled as she stepped out of the way. The con looked up just as a shot fired straight at him. He fell to the floor as Hope jumped over him and fired at the other two. They fired back, but Hope was quick. She fired at the one on the left, off lining him. The other tried to fire at her, but was getting hit from somewhere else. He noticed the human with her own blaster firing at the con. He was about to fire back at her until Hope punched him in the side of the helm. He staggered and looked up just as she shot him in the spark chamber. He fell to the ground as his visor dimmed. Hope rushed to the console and studied it. It looked way more tricky then the one back at base.

"Okay, okay," she said to herself. Remembering what Ratchet showed her, she typed on the keyboard and accessed her way into the ship's comm link. "Here we go."

* * *

(Autobot Base)

Arcee and Jack arrived back at base after searching for almost three hours. they had hoped that Valorie or Hope would have contacted base by now.

"No sign of them," Arcee said, "Any word yet?"

Just before anyone could answer, a voice came through the monitor comm link. _"Hope to Base, do you read? Hope to Base, do you read?"_

Everyone turned their attentions to the monitor frantically, both with relief and concern.

Optimus took a breath of relief hearing his daughter's voice, but the question remained. "Hope, where are you?" he asked urgently.

_"__I'm on the Nemesis. And Valorie's with me. She's safe and unharmed."_

Jack heard Valorie's name and shouted, "Valorie?! Are you there?"

Valorie's voice came through as well, _"I'm here, cuz. And don't worry, I'm fine."_

Hope, remembering they only had so much time, decided to make the call short, _"Look there's something you must know. Megatron built a space bridge and he plans to use it to bring back an army of undead bots from Cybertron to Earth. The ship is on it's way towards it right now. You guys have to hurry and stop him." _

Optimus heard every word and quickly reacted. He turned to Ratchet. "See if you can pin point the Space bridge."

Ratchet was already on it. Optimus looked back at the monitor. "Hope, we will arrive at the space bridge soon as possible. But you must get off the Decepticon Warship immediately."

* * *

_"__There should be a Groundbridge hangar inside the ship. Go to it, and bridge Valorie and yourself back to Earth. Contact Ratchet once you make it and he'll bridge you back to base. Is that understood?"_

"Loud and clear Sire," Hope said.

_"__Good," _There was a pause until Prime continued with worry in his voice, "_Please be safe."_

Hope smiled and responded, "You too. All of you." She then cut the comm off. She then typed something else into the console. Now to find out where the ground bridge hangar was located. After a few seconds, she was able to pin point it's location.

"Bingo," she said. She picked Val up and ran out the door. However, the two of them didn't realized that they were being watched all this time.

* * *

Soundwave played the footage of Hope fighting and contacting the autobots on his visor to Megatron and Starscream. Both watched the screen with interest as they watched her escape and fight against the troops. They watched as Hope contacted the autobots and was speaking to Optimus.

_"…__is that understood?" _Optimus' voice asked.

_"__Loud and clear Sire,"_ Hope responded.

_"__Good… Please be safe."_

_"__You too. All of you." _

Both Cons looked at the screen and grinned.

"So, the rumours our true," Starscream smirked.

Megatron darkly chuckled at the screen, "Indeed. And Optimus has certainly taught his little femme well. She even managed to escape without our help. And now that I know the truth, I can use her to my advantage."

He turned to the seeker. "Head to the main control centre, and await my command."

Starscream nodded, "Of course, my liege." he said before leaving the hangar.

Megatron then turned to Soundwave. "Because we lost our navigational system for the space bridge, I need you to head to these coordinates. The satellites there should give us enough range to lock onto Cyberton. Make sure you get the job done."

Soundwave nodded and walked away. Megatron grinned as he made his way out the room, and towards the ground bridge hangar.

* * *

**Dun dun Daaa! now it's really getting intense! lol but don't worry, cause I also posted the next chapter! Check it out! :)**


	8. Darkness Rising Part 5 (part 2)

**And Here is chapter eight! Things are about to get intense!**

**Summary: The Autobots prepare for one of their biggest battles ever.**

**Warning: Cybertronian swearing and violence.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own transformers, just OCs.**

* * *

Chapter 8

(Autobot Base)

"Optimus, I've pinpointed the location of Megatron's space bridge," Ratchet reported, "High above Earth's atmosphere."

"Out of our reach," Optimus sighed.

"Okay, so you can't fly, but can't you just ground bridge there?" Miko asked.

Ratchet rolled his optics at Miko's ignorance, "The ground bridge has limited range. Stretched all the way into orbit, it's vortex could snap and scatter us to the stars."

Miko stared at Ratchet wide eyed, realizing the risk.

"Since Megatron is already in transit, I'm afraid we must take that risk," Optimus declared, "Reaching the space bridge first is our only means of stopping him." He stood in front of the ground bridge and faced the team.

"Autobots, prepare for departure!"

The humans wished their guardians luck as they lined up in front of the ground bridge.

"Optimus, if you leave me stranded on a planet teeming with humans, I will never forgive you," Ratchet said.

Optimus gave him a small grin, before giving him one last order. "Keep the comm link open for when Hope and Valorie call for a bridge." He then activated his battle mask, "Until we meet again, old friend."

He turned to face the ground bridge as Ratchet activated it. He took a deep breath, hoping that Hope gets home safe and that he would see her again. That is if the vortex didn't split, scattering all the bots anywhere in the universe.

"Autobots, Roll Out!"

The bots transformed and drove through the ground bridge after their leader. "Maximum over drive," he commanded as they accelerated their speed. The bots made it through and found themselves floating in zero gravity. Optimus looked up and saw the space bridge right in front of them.

"Autobots, transform and gravitize!" he instructed. They switched to their robot forms and turned on the magnetics in their pedes as they landed on the space bridge. Bulkhead nearly lost his balance.

"Whoa, don't look up," he muttered to himself. "Or down… or left."

The autobots turned around and saw the Nemesis making it's way towards the space bridge.

"So, Megatron's packing enough Dark Energon to raise Cybertron's dead?" Arcee surmised in disbelief.

"And since we don't possess ready means of disabling the space bridge, nothing gets in, or out," Optimus proclaimed as the five autobots activated their blasters at the warship.

* * *

(The Nemesis)

Hope and Valorie ran down the hallway making there way to their destination. They came across a few cons which Hope had no problem shooting down, giving her a path.

"It should be right around this corner," she told Valorie, who was hanging on tightly on Hope's shoulder with the blaster set on her lap.

Sure enough, they came to a door. Hope wasted no time as she made her way in. Inside was only one vehicon as he looked up and saw the autobot charge in. He activated his blaster and was about to fire until Hope fired the first shot. The con landed on the console and slid onto the floor. Hope deactivated her blaster and headed for the ground bridge console.

"lets head to these coordinates," Hope said as she picked a set of coordinates for somewhere unpopulated in Arizona.

"Why can't we just bridge straight to base?" Valorie asked.

"If we do, the cons will see the previous coordinates that we went through, which would give away the location of base."

"Oh," Valorie said in realization, feeling like an idiot.

Hope punched in the coordinates and placed her servo on the lever. "Now lets get the frag out of here."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

Both Hope and Valorie cringed at the voice that sounded too familiar. They both turned to see Megatron step into the room with the door closing behind him. He smirked maliciously at Hope.

"Did you really think it would be that easy to escape from my ship?" he grinned, "Daughter of Optimus Prime!"

Fear got into Hope's spark. Megatron had figured it out. Megatron continued, "After you almost slipped out the intel yourself, it got me curious about an old rumour I heard centuries ago. But I had to be certain. So I devised a plan to allow you to escape and see for myself. Although, I give you full credit for escaping out of your cell on your own. But I was still able to keep surveillance on you. I could tell right away that Optimus had trained you himself when you went up against my troops. But what really proved my theory was when you contacted your fellow autobots. Optimus sounded like he really worries about you, doesn't he?" he said as his grin grew bigger, showing his sharp dentas.

Hope knew she was in trouble, but her instincts told her to protect Val. She quickly pulled the leaver down and turned to Valorie,"Run through the ground bridge, NOW!"

Megatron charged at Hope as Hope charged at him. Valorie ran to the now activated ground bridge, but stopped to see her former guardian trying to defend herself from the decepticon warlord. It was no rocket science that Megatron could easily over power Hope.

* * *

(Space Bridge)

The bots stared at the warship, waiting for it to make a move.

"Well," Arcee asked, "What are they waiting for?"

Optimus activated his telescope function in his optics to discover a missing dish on the ship. "It appears the Decepticons have sustained severe damage to their interstellar navigation system."

"Huh, thats my handy work," Bulkhead exclaimed.

"Good work Bulkhead," Optimus said, "Without the disk, the Decepticons will be unable to aim their space bridge at Cybertron."

* * *

(Autobot Base)

Ratchet and the humans listened in on what was going on up there.

"Don't the Decepticons know where their planet is?"Raf asked.

"Naturally," Ratchet scoffed, "But Cybertron is many light years away. To reach their target, their aim must be astronomically precise."

_"__If Megatron went through the trouble of rendezvousing with his space bridge he must have an alternate targeting system; a remote one." _Opimus' voice said through the monitor.

_"_From what I know of Earth's technology, I doubt there exists a single radio telescope disk on this planet powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron." Ratchet said.

Raf started typing on his laptop until he found something useful, "What about a whole bunch of linked radio telescope dishes? Like the giant size array in Texas?"

"Zip Ip, Ep!" Ratchet said cutting Raf off, "This is not child's play."

"_Good thinking Rafael," _Optimus said, much to Ratchet's surprise, "_Ratchet, have Agent Fowler alert the array staff to the security hazard."_

"You, Soldier!" Everyone turned their attention to the autobot liaison, who was still dazed as he sat up in the berth he was on, "You're out of uniform! Put on some pants!" he said before falling back on the berth.

"That may be a challenge."

Raf began typing rapidly on the laptop. "I can't get past the array's Firewall," he said as he slammed his fists down in frustration, "They're too thick."

"You actually think you can keep the Decepticons out?' Ratchet asked humorously.

"Maybe… If I can get in."

"Wait," Jack said, "What if we can get you all the way in? Like inside the building in?"

Raf's face lightened up, "I could log into the internal network on the other side of the firewall."

_"__The risk is too great," _Optimus said, "_The Decepticons will be there, perhaps even on site."_

Jack spoke up, "Optimus, with all do respect, you said it yourself. This is bigger than the safety of three humans. Well four, including Val."

"Yeah," Miko added, "If we let the con's win, we're fragged, along with everyone else on this planet!"

Optimus thought for a moment. He knew they had a point. But it was entirely up to the young hacker.

"_Raf…?"_

Raf already made his choice, "I want to give it a shot."

* * *

(The Nemesis)

Hope activated her wrist blades and blocked herself from Megatron's blade. She felt herself getting pushed back from each blow. She had to admit, Megatron was a powerful enemy. After she was able to block off one of his blows, she was able to strike several times at his torso. She was shorter then he was, and couldn't get a direct helm shot. Megatron only took one step back and used his giant arm to smack Hope back with his back servo, causing her to fly against the wall. Valorie watched in horror as Hope struggled to get back up. Hope already had energon leaking from her mouth as she glared up at the con.

Megatron approached her, but stopped when several shots were fired from the side. He turned and saw the human femme with her own blaster firing at him. Smirking at the human's foolishness, he aimed his cannon at Valorie, which was way bigger then Valorie's blaster. Fear came to Valorie as she backed away from the con. Megatron was about to fire at her until he was knocked out of the way by Hope. The blast missed Valorie by a few feet, causing her to stumble. Megatron skidded back, but stayed on his pedes. He sneered at Hope as he charged at her.

"Val, get out of here!" Hope ordered. She activated her blaster and started firing at the con. Her blasts just bounced off his armour as he approached her.

"But.." Valorie began.

"GO!" Hope yelled just as she was knocked back by Megatron's blow. Valorie looked at the ground bridge, and back at Hope. A tear streamed from her eye as she darted through the ground bridge, without looking back.

Megatron chuckled darkly at Hope, "Like sire, now daughter. Always worrying about the weaker species, when it is your own life at stake."

Hope glared at him and held her wrist blades up in a battle stance. "It's because they give me a reason to fight. To protect them from psychopathic war lords like you!"

Megatron growled and decided it was time to end their little battle. Hope lunged at him, ready to strike with her blades, but Megatron dodged her as he stepped aside and let her fly right by him. Once she was close enough, he smashed his elbow against the back of her helm. Hope felt the wind knock out of her as she fell to the floor. She landed with a thud. She tried to get up, but didn't have time to react when Megatron's fist came in contact with her helm. The impact was so hard that she slumped to the floor and laid there motionless, half conscious. Megatron chuckled as he walked over to the ground bridge console and deactivated the ground bridge.

"Sorry, but your trip has been cancelled." he smirked.

Just then he heard his second in command's voice speak through his comm link. _"Master, the autobots have arrived. They are at the space bridge as we speak."_

Megatron grinned, "Optimus never disappoints. Unlike you Starscream." He said the last part with a sneer.

Strscream laughed nervously at the comment,_ "No need for concern, Master. Soundwave is locking onto Cybertron's coordinates as we speak, per my instructions."_

"Then see to it that there are no delays then," Megatron growled, "And send the strike team to crush the Autobots!" he ordered before cutting off the comm link. He then walked over to Hope who was still weakened from the blow and was fighting to stay awake. He grabbed her by the helm and lifted her up to his optic level. "I'm sure daddy is missing his little Hope right now," The warlord grinned evilly.

* * *

(Autobot Base)

Ratchet waited for anyone to respond to base. The bots were fighting off an Eradicon team on the space bridge, and the children went to a Military Base to try and keep the cons from locking onto Cybertron. And he still hadn't heard one word yet from Hope or Valorie.

Just then a voice came through the comm, "Ratchet, it's Valorie! I need a bridge!"

Ratchet immediately opened the ground bridge and watched as the human girl ran in, although she looked like she just stepped out of a battle.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Valorie nodded as she looked down, "I'm fine."

Optimus who still had his comm link open asked, "_Where is Hope?"_

Valorie looked up with a sad expression on her face. "Megatron tried to stop Hope from escaping. She made sure I got out before she did. I tried to help, but…"

She hung her head in shame. She blamed herself for leaving Hope behind. Optimus was silent for a moment. His daughter hadn't come back. And even though she was no longer Val's guardian, she still risked her life to protect her. He finally spoke, _"Do not blame yourself Valorie. If you would have stayed, Hope's objective of protecting you would have been in vain."_

Ratchet nodded, "he's right. We must believe that Hope will find another way off the Decepticon warship."

Valorie looked up at the medic, feeling a little confident, but still feared that she may never see her best friend again. She then looked around. "Where are Jack and the others?"

* * *

Optimus continued fighting against the eradicons. However, he couldn't get his mind off what could have happened to Hope. Did Megatron find out?

* * *

Valorie arrived outside of the military base where Ratchet had sent the others. After three ground bridges in less then twenty minutes, she really felt like heaving. But she brushed that aside as she ran to the building. She was able to convince Ratchet to send her there and help her fellow humans, even though he insisted that she stay and recover from her time on the Nemesis. But she was not willing to wait on the sidelines and watch. She even brought her new blaster with her. Since it was pretty big and had a little weight to it, she had a strap made out from some rope as she carried it on her back.

She ran down a hallway, hoping to find her cousin and the others. She stopped when she saw some sort of tentacle sliding into a room. A Decepticon! She rushed to the room, just in time to see the tentacle arm raise an axe above the three humans.

"Hey!" Valorie shouted as she fired her blaster at the arm. The tentacle jerked back still holding the axe, but pulled away from the three humans. One of the blasts hit it, causing it to wound the tentacle as it leaked Energon. The tentacle pulled back out of the room, but not before smacking Valorie to the side. She skidded down the hallway on her back as she watched the tentacle disappear with the axe still in its claw. She quickly got up and grabbed her blaster as the others ran out. Jack saw her and immediately gave her a big hug.

"I was so worried!" he said.

Valorie hugged him back. Miko noticed Valorie's new blaster. "Lucky! I want one!" she whined.

Valorie let Jack go, "Come on, lets go after it." she said.

The four humans followed the trail of leaked energon and ran into a bigger hangar. They looked up and saw Soundwave about to make his leave. He turned around and saw the four humans. Miko whipped out her phone and took a picture of him. Soundwave responded by taking a picture of the four humans before taking off into the sky.

"Why's he leaving?' Miko asked.

Raf noticed the axe wedged into the wiring. "He cut the hard lines. The space bridge is locked onto Cybertron… for good."

* * *

The autobots felt the space bridge reactivate, only this time it stayed activated. Optimus prayed that the children were alright. He especially prayed that Hope was alright. He looked up and saw Megatron rise from his ship with a huge chunk of Dark Energon on his back. "At last!" Megatron shouted as he heaved it towards the Space bridge. Optimus tried firing at it hoping to at least knock it off course, but his attempts were in vain as it made it's way through.

Megatron grinned evilly as his optics glowed purple. He could feel the Dark Energon spread out across cybertron's surface. "Arise my legion!" he commanded.

* * *

"So, how do we beat a planet of the undead?" Bulkhead asked.

"_Optimus, I'm registering a rapidly growing mass in their space bridge vortex, one with a dark energon signal," _Ratchet reported.

Optimus pondered for a moment, "Ratchet, we must destroy the space bridge," he declared, "There is enough energon coursing through it to achieve detonation, but we lack the fire power to ignite it."

* * *

"If I knew how the space bridge was engineered, I might be able to find a technical way to accomplish it," Ratchet stated.

"Um," Raf said, holding up a flash drive. While they were at the military base, the young hacker was able to download the Decepticons' schematics, "Would schematics help?"

"Optimus, I must say, the space bridge is our sole hope of ever returning to Cyberton. Are you certain it's destruction is our only option?" Ratchet asked.

"_I'm afraid so."_

"Then by all means, let us light our darkest Hour."

* * *

"Autobots, take your positions and follow Ratchet's lead," Optimus ordered. The Bots transformed and took off, leaving the Prime alone as he turned to see the Warlord flying towards him, "While I make my stand."

The Decepticon leader transformed into robot mode and landed a little ways away from Optimus. "You're fellow autobots are wise Optimus. they know when to retreat."

Optimus glared angrily at the mech. "I hold no illusion about engaging your army Megatron. But I might derail its objective, by removing its head," he said as he unfolded one of his swords.

Megatron laughed, "Highly unlikely Optimus. Though I would be careful if I were you. You wouldn't want to lose 'Hope' now would you?"

Optimus saw a ground bridge portal open behind Megatron. A green femme was pushed through and fell to the ground. She had stasis cuffs around her wrists, was covered in scratches, and was leaking energon. She was still weak from before as she looked up to see her Sire standing there. Optimus looked wide optic at his daughter's condition. Megatron laughed.

"How long did you think you could keep your little secret from me… Sire?" he grinned as he picked up Hope by the back of her neck. She groaned in pain as he tightened his grip around her.

Optimus was furious. His worst nightmares were coming true. But he knew one wrong move and he could lose Hope, "Megatron, let her go! This is between you and me!" he roared.

"Indeed. Tell me Optimus, how much do you care about your daughter?" Megatron grinned as he threw Hope to the ground and withdrew his blade. Hope tried to get up in a kneeling stance, but froze when she felt the blade press against the back of her neck.

Optimus' optics went wide. "Megatron, STOP!"

Megatron sneered, "I'll stop, after I see you suffer!"

He lifted his blade above his helm. Hope looked wide optic at it before closing her optics and preparing herself to join the Well of the Allspark. Megatron brought the blade down.

The sound of metal against metal echoed, but Hope didn't feel the blow. She looked up to see her Sire blocking the blade with his own sword. He and Megatron shared glares at one another as Optimus gave a battle cry and knocked the warlord a few yards back.

While Megatron was getting back up, Optimus picked Hope up bridal style and set her down to the side. "Stay here," he told her after he sliced the cuffs off her. He turned around with his swords out and charged at Megatron.

Hope watched as the two duelled. But while they were duelling, she looked up and noticed the huge swarm of undead coming through the vortex. Hope had never been so scared before in her life. She brought her mind back to the fight. She saw Megatron throw a left hook at her sire's face plate, and then a small slice to the torso. Optimus shifted his stance, but ended up having his sword sliced off, leaving him a broken sword to defend himself with.

Megatron then gave the Prime an upper cut, making Optimus airborne. But Megatron quickly grabbed his leg and slammed him to the ground face first and then threw him across the ground in the opposite direction.

Hope watched in horror as her Sire was struggling to get up. She saw the warlord slowly approach her.

"Now," he said once he got to her, "where were we?" he glanced at Optimus to make sure he was watching.

Prime was able to look up and was horrified to see Megatron holding the blade at his daughter.

Fear was replaced with fury as Hope glared at the Warlord. Megatron raised his blade, and striked it down at her.

"NO!" Optimus yelled.

Megatron looked down and was shocked, as was Optimus. For Hope had managed to gain enough strength to activate her wrist blades and block the blow with both her blades. She looked up and glared at the con. She gave a battle cry as she used all her strength to push the con back and activated her blasters to fire at him. Although it didn't do much damage, it caused him to go flying a few yards back. Hope pushed herself up and got on her pedes. She stumbled at first, but kept her balance. Megatron got up and laughed when he saw her getting into a battle stance.

"You certainly are your Sire's daughter," he grinned.

Optimus looked up and saw Hope challenging Megatron. "Hope, no!" he shouted.

Megatron charged at Hope and was ready to strike her with his blade. She quickly ducked and rolled out of the way before the blade could hit her. She got back in her stance.

Megatron turned around and took another strike, but she dodged that too. He was beginning to get annoyed. "Stay still!" he roared.

Hope grinned, "Why? Can't kill a moving bot?" she asked weakly.

Megatron furiously slashed his sword at her as she dodged each blow. Once she found an opening, she used her wrist blades to slice at the Con's torso, wounding him. Megatron stumbled back as he looked at the gash in his side. Purple Energon leaked out as he glared at the femme. Hope got into her stance and readied herself. Megatron was the first to charge as Hope fought back. Optimus slowly got up as he watched his daughter. He watched in amazement as she defended herself from the warlord. He watched as she did a backwards flip, getting a good distance away from Megatron. Once she was far enough, she activated her blasters and fired at the con's face plate. Megatron tried shielding it with his servos, but he failed to react in time as the femme jumped pretty high and brought her pede down hard against his face plate. He stumbled back as she landed back on her pedes and got back into a stance. Megatron growled as energon began dripping from his mouth. He was not going to be taken down by a femme so easily. This time he pointed his cannon at her and started firing. Hope dodged the first three blasts, but was hit by the fourth on her side . She got on one knee as she tried to fight the pain. She quickly tried to get back up, but the warlord was already charging at her with his blade out.

"Now die!" he roared as he brought his blade up.

But he wasn't able to strike as he was knocked to the side by Optimus. Megatron skidded a few yards away as he tried to get up. Optimus and Hope immediately started firing at the the Decepticon. Megatron growled as he transformed and flew off. Even though he wished he could finish both off, he had to make sure that his army would arrive.

After Megatron flew off, Hope grinned before she felt her systems failing. She collapsed as her Sire caught her before she could hit the ground. She immediately fell into stasis. Optimus held his daughter bridal style and held her close with her helm leaning against his chassis. He remembered holding her like this when he first found her as a sparkling. His spark felt guilt for what she went through, but at the same time, he felt pride. She was able to protect Valorie and get her back to Earth safely and had fought well against the enemy. His daughter really was all grown up.

He then heard a boom coming from above him. He looked up to see that the space bridge was about to blow, thanks to the bots. He ran towards his team with Hope still in his arms. The bots looked up and saw Hope with Prime.

"_Hope!" _Bumblebee beeped worryingly.

_"__Optimus,"_ Ratchet said through the comm, _"The ground bridge is waiting."_

Optimus held onto Hope tightly.

"Autobots, jump!" he ordered. He was the first to jump off the space bridge and into the vortex with the others following after.

* * *

Megatron flew to the entrance of his space bridge as he waited for his army. But when he turned around, he saw that the warship was missing. "Starscream!" he roared, "Where is my ship?!"

"_We would never make it, Lord Megatron," _Starscream said over the comm, "_Don't be a fool! Take flight and retreat!"_

Megatron growled in frustration but turned to see his army approach. "My legion," he said.

Just then he noticed the space bridge began to malfunction as explosions were getting bigger around him.

"NO!" he roared as he tried to reach out for his army. But it was too late.

**BOOM!**

The space bridge imploded, sending a wave of Energon into the vast space.

* * *

"Decepticons… it is with deep sorrow that I note for the log that Megatron's spark has been extinguished," Starcream said on the mission log. He then grinned evilly. "All hail… Starscream."

* * *

(Autobot Base)

Hope groaned as her optics slowly opened. She looked up at a bright light with her vision was still blury. She heard voices from beside her as figures appeared under the light.

_"__Look, she's waking up!"_ She heard Bumblebee beep.

"Give her some room," Another voice said, sounding like Ratchet.

"Hope? You okay?" She heard Val's voice ask.

Hope's vision finally cleared up as she saw the medic, scout, and human looking back at her. She looked around and found herself back at the autobot base. She smiled.

"Hey guys," she said softly.

"Thank the alspark, you're okay," Ratchet said.

Hope placed her servo on her throbbing helm, trying to remember the last thing that happened before she blacked out. "How long was I out?" she asked.

"Almost a whole solar cycle," Ratchet said, "You fell into stasis on the Space bridge after your confrontation with Megatron. I was able to patch up your wounds, but you still need time to recover."

Hope then remembered what had happened. She then quickly asked, "Wait, did we stop the cons?! Did we win?!"

She heard a chuckle from the side. She turned her helm to see Arcee, Bulkhead, Jack, Raf, and Miko standing beside her.

"You bet kid," Bulkhead said, "Thanks to you, we got there just in time. And lets just say it went out with a bang," he grinned.

Bumblebee wasted no time as he gave Hope a big hug. _ "I was so worried sis!"_ he beeped sadly,_ "I thought I would never see you again! Thank Primus you're okay!"_

"It's alright Bee," Hope said as she hugged her big brother back.

"You gave us all quite the scare," Arcee said, then smiled, "But you did good Hope."

"And the important thing is that you are back, safe and sound," Ratchet added.

Hope smiled at them all. She turned her attention to Valorie, feeling guilty for earlier. "Sorry you had to go through all of that. I didn't mean to put you in danger."

Valorie had tears running down her face as she smiled and hugged Hope's faceplate. "I don't care about that. I'm just happy you're okay."

Hope smiled, happy to see her friend was okay. She saw Jack and looked confused, "I thought you left?"

He shrugged, "I had second thoughts. Besides, what else is there to do in Jasper?"

Hope laughed, "You got a point there."

"Nice to see you're back online, trainee."

Hope turned her helm and saw Agent Fowler standing on the other side of her on the ramp.

"Agent Fowler," she said with a grin, "It's good to see you back on your feet."

"Feels good," Agent Fowler stated as he straightened himself up. "I wanted to thank you in person, for helping with saving my hide."

"You're saying thank you?" Hope asked in disbelief, "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Agent Fowler?" she grinned.

"Ha ha," he said rolling his eyes, "I know I don't show it much, but I can have a soft side."

Hope chuckled. But then something dawned on her as she thought for a moment, "What of Megatron?" she asked sounding concerned.

"Last we saw of him, he was still hanging around the space bridge once it began to blow. I doubt we have to worry about him anymore." Arcee said with a grin.

"Megatron… is dead?" Hope asked in disbelief.

"Not even he could have survived Ground 0," Optimus said as he approached his daughter's side. He smiled at her, glad to see that she was recovering.

"Sire," Hope smiled.

Ratchet then motioned everyone away from the two. "Okay, lets give them some privacy. Get, get," he said shooing everyone back. Everyone walked to the other end of the hangar, leaving the Prime alone with his daughter.

Hope looked up at her Sire and decided to speak first, "Sire, I'm so sorry for storming out the other night. I shouldn't have snapped at you…."

Prime raised his servo, silencing his daughter, "You have nothing to apologize for Hope. I'm the one who should be apologizing."

Hope was a little confused, "For what?"

Optimus sat down on the berth next to Hope, "For holding you back. My reason was because I was afraid that the enemy would discover who you were, and that they would come after you. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to protect you. And when I saw Megatron holding you captive, it was a nightmare coming to life. You mean everything to me Hope, and I would never forgive myself if I lost you. That is why I was afraid of letting you help the team."

Hope was able to push herself into a sitting position as she looked at her sire. "Why didn't you just tell me how you felt before?" she asked.

Optimus looked at his daughter with a soft expression, "I didn't want you to feel like you were a burden. You're a strong femme Hope, and I don't want you to think otherwise."

Hope, finally realizing her father's reasons, leaned forward and gave him a big hug. Optimus was caught by surprise, but gladly hugged her back. She placed her helm on his chassis, feeling the beat of his spark inside his chest plate.

"I love you Hope," he said softly to her.

Hope felt a tear trickle down her faceplate, "I love you too, Sire." she smiled.

A smile crept on the Prime's faceplate. After a moment, he had Hope lay back down on the berth as he got up.

"You must rest. You need to fully recover before you can go out into the field."

Hope was already on her back when she shot back up, looking confused, "Wait, what?!" she asked, thinking she had heard him wrong.

Optimus looked at her and smiled, "You have proven yourself ready to contribute. Once you recover, you will officially become a member of Team Prime. You will start as a scout like Bumblebee, and work your way to warrior class. And I would also like to give you back the role of being Valorie's guardian, if that is all right with you?"

Hope's spark nearly skipped a beat. A huge smile spread across her face plate as she got super excited, "Are you kidding?! Yes! this is so cool…!"

She stopped herself and looked at her Sire sheepishly. She cleared her voice box trying to act calm, "I mean, yes, I would be honoured to join Team Prime and be Valorie's guardian."

Optimus chuckled as he nodded, "Good," he said. he turned to walk away, and then turned to Hope one last time. "Now rest. You have earned it." he then walked away.

Hope laid back down, but she still had a big smile on her face. She was going to help her family. And she couldn't ask for anything more.

* * *

Two weeks had gone by since the Space Bridge battle. Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Arcee, and Hope waited outside the school for their human friends.

"That autobot emblem looks good on you Hope," Arcee complimented.

Hope smiled in her vehicle form. Once she recovered, she was officially announced a member of Team Prime and had received her Autobot emblem on the front of her bumper, which would be around her hips like a belt. The emblem was sort of like a belt buckle. She wore it with pride when she went out scouting with the team.

"Thanks Arcee," she said.

Just then the bell rang, and the bots watched as the students poured out of the school. They opened their doors once they saw their human friends approach them. Valorie grinned as she hopped inside of Hope.

"Finally, I thought that bell would never ring," Val smiled as she put her seat belt on.

Hope chuckled, "let's roll."

The bots pulled out and drove off back to base. Hope smiled. Everything was perfect. But she knew it wouldn't last long. Not with the Decepticons still out there. But she knew one thing. No matter what happened, no matter what threat they would have to face, they would defend themselves. they would humanity. They would defend their home.

* * *

**Yes! I'm finally done Darkness Rising! I can't wait to continue with the rest of the series. I hope you guys liked it. Again, sorry for the long wait and thanks again to BlueStar19 and Kristen Verne for your ideas and suggestions. I hope to update again soon with Masters and Students. So please review and tell me what you think. Until next time! Bye y'all!**


	9. Masters and Students

**Hey guys! So sorry for the long wait. Works been busy and I've been busy with other things as well. So heads up, I may be slow with my updates. But I will work on them as much as I can. Anyway, thank you to all of you who have reviewed my last update. It really means a lot. So now I give you chapter 9 of Transformers Prime: Hope. Enjoy!**

* * *

Hope chapter 9

Masters and Students

Warnings: Cybertronian language and violence

Disclaimer: I don't own transformers, just OCs.

* * *

It had been a few weeks since the space bridge battle. A few things had changed since then. The autobots gained human friends, Megatron was defeated, and Hope became an official member of Team Prime.

Hope was always enthusiastic with every mission she was sent on. Never once did she back down from one. She always loved a good challenge. She would work with Bumblebee almost all the time since they were both scouts, though Bumblebee would sometimes have a tough time catching up with her. He still couldn't figure out where all her energy came from.

But even with the missions and all the action, Hope's favourite role was being Valorie's guardian. Since Valorie's aunt still thinks Hope is Valorie's new car, Hope had to stay over nights at the Darby's residents along with Arcee who was portraying as Jack's new motorcycle. Hope sometimes envied Arcee for getting to power down in the garage, but she would let it slide… when it wasn't raining.

When Hope wasn't on missions, she was with Valorie. The two had a close bond and always enjoyed each others company. Valorie would teach Hope everything she knew about life on Earth while Hope would teach her how to shoot and aim her new blaster. Valorie had Ratchet help modify it for her so that it was easier for her to use. She even got a good strap for it so that she could carry it on her back. When she wasn't using it for target practice, she would give it to Hope to put in her compartment for safe keeping. Not just for in case of a Decepticon attack while she was with Hope, but because Miko had been trying to get her hands on it for quite some time, and she would always shiver at the idea of Miko having it in her possession.

The whole team was happy to have Hope helping out, but no one was as proud as Optimus. Ever since the space bridge battle, he began feeling more confident in Hope going out on missions. Optimus still worried about her, but had fully embraced the fact that she was all grown up and knew how to take care of herself.

It was a quiet day back at the Autobot Base. Besides Optimus and Ratchet, each bot was with their charges helping them with their science projects. Hope and Valorie were working on Valorie's project right next to Bumblebee and Raf. Hope watched Valorie as she sprinkled in a small bit of glitter into a water bottle. Valorie then lifted the bottle up so that Hope could get a better look. She began spinning the bottle in a circular motion. Hope watched with interest as the water, dish soap, and glitter began to form a spinning vortex inside the bottle.

"And that is how you make a tornado in a bottle," Valorie said.

"Hey, thats pretty cool," Hope said while watching the vortex die down. Valorie set the bottle down next to her display board which was loaded with information, facts, and pictures of storms. There was so much that it took up most of the board's surface.

Just then funny noise came from Raf's volcano. The young hacker had activated the volcano with a controller, but the volcano seemed to be sparking a lot.

_"__Is it suppose to do that?"_ Bumblebee asked worryingly.

A weird sound began to grow louder and louder as the volcano began to shake and rumble.

"Uh oh," Raf yelped.

Before anyone could react, the volcano let out a blast of black smoke. The group was coughing and trying to wave off the smoke. They could hear Ratchet panicking on the other side of the hangar.

"Decepticons! We're under attack!"

As the smoke cleared, Hope could see the medic and her Sire rushing towards them.

"It's no attack Ratchet," Raf said while coughing and waving off the last bit of smoke, "It's my volcano."

Just as he said that, his volcano melted into a puddle. He looked at it, "Was," he corrected himself.

Ratchet looked at the volcano and then at Miko who had Bulkhead hold up her solar system model for her.

"Hold still Bulkhead!" she said, "Jupiter needs its red spot." She was about to put the spot on, but dropped some paint on the floor, "Whoopsie!"

Ratchet looked like he was fuming. "What in the allspark is going on here?" he demanded.

Jack and Arcee who were in the far corner working on Jack's engine turned to the medic. "Our projects are due tomorrow," Jack answered.

"Arcee picked up a piece and handed it to Jack. "Maybe it needs one of these do hickeys," she suggested.

Jack looked at her funny. "You're a motorcycle Arcee," he said, "Shouldn't you know how to build a motorcycle engine?"

Arcee gave him a look. "You're a human Jack," she said, "can you build me a small intestine?"

Hope and Valorie snickered. Ratchet was still not amused. "You can't work on your projects here. You're making a mess."

Valorie looked up at the medic. "But the science fair is a big part of our grade," she objected.

Miko chimed in, "Yeah, if Bulkhead doesn't help me finish my model of our solar system…"

"Oh," Ratchet argued, "And what does Bulkhead know about your solar system? Or Bumblebee of your volcanoes? or…"

"Me on Earth's storms and Arcee on Earth's motorcycles?" Hope finished sounding annoyed of Ratchet's behaviour.

"Precisely! We're not Earthlings! And they're not scientists!" The medic finished.

"But the autobots are their guardians, Ratchet," Optimus said, "Would it hurt to learn more of Earth by helping our young friends with their school work?"

"Well, maybe our young friends should know more about Cybertron," Ratchet retorted as he turned and walk away.

Valorie gave Ratchet a cold look, "What's his problem?"

Hope looked at her then back at Ratchet. "He's just home sick," she said, "He may not show it all the time, but he means well."

Valorie's expression softened. They both went back to work as they finished up Valorie's project.

"Finished!" Valorie said with a smile.

Jack looked over at his cousin, "Already?! I'm not even half way done with mine."

"That's what happens when you wait last minute instead of working on it two weeks ahead," Valorie said with a grin.

Jack frowned as he tried to make an excuse, "I have to work part time, remember?"

"You work for five hours every other day. Who had plenty of time."

"Yeah well, I'll have it ready in time by tomorrow. You'll see," Jack retorted.

Valorie rolled her eyes at her cousin. Hope looked at the display which was filled with lots of information and chuckled. "Are you sure you got enough intel for your project Val?" she asked jokingly.

Valorie took a look at the board, catching on to what Hope was really saying, "I know, I over did it. I just want to make sure that I have enough to pass. These projects are a big deal."

"I think you got enough info to write yourself a book," Hope smiled, "What made you decide to do storms anyway?"

"I've always been interested in them as long as I can remember. Though the only storms I've ever seen are the occasional thunder storms. Someday I would like to go storm chasing and see a tornado up close," Valorie replied.

Hope looked thoughtful as she rubbed her chin, "Storm chasing huh? Dangerous high speed winds, funnel clouds sucking up everything in their paths. Facing danger, destruction, chaos," Hope's faceplate then lit up with a grin. "Sounds like fun!"

"_Val, please don't give Hope any ideas," _Bumblebee chirped from behind Hope who turned around to give him a glare.

"What did he say?" Valorie asked.

Hope turned to her with a devious smile, "Just that I'm awesome and that he wishes he could be like me."

"_I didn't say that!" _Bumblebee beeped as he turned to face the green femme.

"Sounded like it."

"_It didn't sound anything like that."_

"But I'm still awesome, right?"

Bumblebee went silent like he was lost in thought. Hope looked at him impatiently.

"Well?"

_"__I'm thinking,"_ he beeped.

Hope gave him a swat at the back of the helm. "Smart aft," she commented.

"Language Hope," Ratchet said from across the hangar. That just creeped Hope out.

"How can he hear me from over there?" Hope asked. Bumblebee just shrugged.

Just then an alarm went off on the computer. Ratchet pulled up the information on the screen.

"Exposed Energon, and it's moving fast," he reported.

"And since we ain't moving it, guess who must be," Bulkhead said.

"Decepticons," Arcee answered.

"I still can't believe that the cons are still at it, even with Megatron gone," Valorie said.

"Megatron's legacy will live on, as others rise to take his place," Optimus explained. He turned to the team. "Autobots, you have projects to complete. Ratchet, I may require aid."

Ratchet looked at the unfinished projects and thought for a moment. "Science fair is a big part of their grade… perhaps I'm better suited to remain behind and… advise," Ratchet said.

"Very well," Optimus said. He turned to Hope, "Hope, let us see about this Energon transit."

Hope grinned as she got up. She looked down at Valorie, 'You don't mind if I head out for a bit do you?"

Valorie just smiled, "Go ahead. Just be careful."

Hope smiled as she walked over to her Sire just as the ground bridge opened. Both ran through and found themselves in a rocky cavern. Just as they arrived, they heard an ominous sound.

"What is that?" Hope asked.

The two autobots ducked behind a boulder and saw Starscream and Soundwave stand in front of a tomb that was opening.

"That doesn't look good," Hope said to her Sire.

"No Hope, it does not. Hold your position and await my command," Optimus ordered as he advanced towards the two cons.

Hope watched as a big green mech walked out of the tomb and in front of Starscream. He was big, though not as big as Megatron. She watched as her Sire got closer while the two were talking. She let out a small laugh when Starscream cowardly backed away from the angry mech. That was when her Sire stepped forward towards them.

"It has been a while Skyquake," Optimus said calmly.

The three cons turned their attentions to the Prime. The one Optimus called Skyquake shoved Starscream aside.

"Optimus Prime," Skyquake growled, "I haven't seen you since the Battle of Technar. Megatron ordered me to annihilate you."

"That was a long time ago," Optimus said.

"That may be, Prime, but my orders still stand," Skyquake stated.

"Is this ancient war still worth fighting? When so many comrades have been lost? And worlds destroyed?" Optimus asked both Starscream and Skyquake. "Starscream, if you want to be a true leader, then stray from Megatron's path and lead the Decepticons towards peace."

"I would be willing to consider a truce, if you would be willing to bow before me, Optimus Prime," Starscream grinned.

Hope growled at the seeker, but smirked when Skyquake punched Starscream in the chest, sending him flying into the rock wall. Hope watched as her Sire faced off the green mech.

"Skyquake, this is a new era, on another world," Optimus said, trying to reason with the con, "Side with the autobots and help me end this conflict forever."

"I will NEVER side with a Prime!" Skyquake proclaimed before charging towards Optimus.

Optimus underestimated his opponent's speed and was knocked into a nearby archway. Skyquake picked the Prime up and threw him like a rag doll. Optimus got back on his pedes and started firing at the con. Skyquake drew out his Gatling gun and fired back, causing the Prime to skid back a few feet.

Hope couldn't take watching her Sire get hurt anymore.

"Hey YOU!" she yelled as she ran out of hiding.

"Hope, no!" Optimus warned. But it was too late.

Hope jumped into the air and fired her blasters at Skyquake's back. Skyquake turned around and open fired on the femme. Hope was able to avoid getting hit as she got closer. But when she tried to strike with her wrist blade, Skyquake grabbed her and threw her into the cliff side.

"Okay, should have seen that coming," Hope mumbled to herself as she looked up and saw the mech aim his gun at her. As soon as he pulled the trigger, Optimus already shoved the gun out of the way. The shots missed Hope as she got back up to help her Sire.

Skyquake tossed Prime aside just as Hope lunged at him from behind with her blades. He noticed her and stepped out of the way before she could even scratch him. He grabbed her by the helm and slammed her into the ground. She tried getting up, but he gave her a kick to the side. She flew against the cliffside, making a huge crater in the rock. Groaning in pain, she looked up at her opponent.

"Foolish femme," Skyquake growled as he aimed his gatling gun at her, "Now you'll die."

But Optimus already got to him before he could fire at Hope. It was a little harder for Hope to get up, but she managed to get back on her pedes. Optimus was firing at the con before trying to grab him. However, he received an elbow to the faceplate, causing him to stagger back towards Hope.

Hope thought of something. "Isn't he a flyer? Why won't he transform and attack from high ground?" she asked her Sire.

"Skyquake has yet to acquire a vehicle mode," Optimus told her. _Makes sense since he's been in stasis for so long,_ Hope thought.

Skyquake moved towards the two bots as he charged up his gun.

"Fall back," Optimus ordered. Both autobots transformed and drove off, leaving clouds of dust behind them.

"So time has made you a coward, Prime?" Skyquake shouted as he continued firing.

The two bots kept driving. Hope knew that Skyquake would follow. She came up with a plan.

"Sire, I have an idea," she said.

* * *

Skyquake ran through the dust clouds and followed the tracks. He turned the corner and saw the green car waiting for him.

"What are you waiting for?!" Hope called out, "Come and get me!" she then sped off down the path.

Skyquake growled as he chased after her. Hope was going pretty fast, but Skyquake was still hot on her tail. She finally came to a dead end and transformed into her bipedal mode. She turned to face the con who had her cornered.

"It will be a shame to crush you femme, but it is my duty," he remarked.

Just then he heard the sound of a horn from behind. He turned around and saw the semi truck approach him. He began firing at Optimus, but the Prime was quick. Optimus transformed and punched Skyquake in the faceplate.

"Excellent strategy, Hope," Optimus complimented his daughter.

Skyquake fell from the cliff face Optimus had punched him into and towards the ground. He appeared unconscious at first, but quickly recovered and lashed out at Optimus.

"Skyquake, stay down," Optimus warned as he gave him a punch to the helm. Skyquake fell to the ground, weakened from the blow. He appeared defeated.

Just then, Optimus and Hope heard the sound of a jet. They turned and saw a familiar jet that a certain Autobot Liaison was flying.

"Fowler?" Hope gasped.

While the two bots were distracted, Skyquake too saw the jet. He grinned as his optics sent a scanning beam up at it.

"Agent Fowler, fall back!" Optimus warned through their radio connection.

But it was too late. The beam scanned the jet and Skyquake was back on his pedes. He jumped up in the air and transformed into his new jet mode. He then took off into the skies and circled around towards Optimus and Hope.

"Oh scrap," Hope deadpanned.

Optimus and Hope ran for cover as Skyquake began firing at them. They transformed back into vehicle mode and drove off to gain more speed.

Hope watched through her rear view mirrors as Skyquake chased after them. She also saw Fowler trying to fire at the con. Hope looked up at a cliff that she and her Sire were driving towards. She thought carefully and came up with another plan. This one a little more crazy.

Skyquake continued firing at the two as they swerved and tried to avoid every shot. One missile came to close to Optimus as it caused him to transform to avoid getting hurt.

But Skyquake ignored him. He continued chasing after Hope, which is what she wanted.

"Is that the best you got?!" she shouted at him, making sure his attention was on her.

"Your arrogance will be the death of you, femme!" Skyquake growled as he continued firing at her.

Hope drove up the hill at high speed, causing her to fly over the top. She transformed mid air and and ran as fast as she could. She continued running towards the edge of the cliff as she saw Skyquake come into view in front of her. Knowing her next move, she contacted Fowler through the radio.

"Fowler, I need an assist," she said as she jumped off the edge and on top of Skyquake. Skyquake tried to shake the femme off by knocking her into the cliff's faces. But Hope managed to hang on. Just like her Sire, she tried to reason with him.

"I don't want to do this Skyquake!" she warned. She had to shout over the sound of the engine plus the wind, "But you're giving me no choice! This is your final warning! Surrender quietly and help us protect this planet and stop the war once and for all!"

Skyquake growled at the femme. "NEVER!" That was his final answer.

Before he could try and knock her off again, she punched a huge whole into his cockpit and ripped out his wiring. She did the same with her other fist. The jet began to nose dive towards the ground a thousand feet below. Hope hung on as she contacted Fowler.

"Anytime now Fowler!" she said still hanging on for dear life. She then saw the agent's jet fly beside her as she jumped off of Skyquake and onto Fowler's jet. Fowler pulled the jet back up into the air as Hope watched the con fall to the ground.

"Happy landings con," Hope heard Fowler say through the radio. Fowler dropped Hope off on the edge of the canyon.

"Thanks for the ride," she said through the radio.

"Anytime femme," Fowler responded as he flew off.

Hope climbed down and joined Optimus. He approached her, relieved to see that she was okay. They approached the con and watched Skyquake's optics dim as his spark gave out.

Hope's spark sank, "I kinda wish he would have reconsidered." she said softly.

Optimus placed his servo on Hope's shoulder, "As do I, Hope. Had Skyquake chosen to stray from his master's path, we might not be burying him today," Optimus remarked.

* * *

**(The next day, back at Autobot Base)**

"Hope, putting yourself at risk was perhaps not the wisest of strategies. But you performed admirably," Optimus complimented his daughter after Ratchet finished checking her for injuries.

Hope smiled at her Sire. Just then they heard the sound of honking. "Ah ha! There here," Ratchet said excitedly. Hope was a little confused at the medic's reaction. Normally he would complain when the kids would come over. The bots drove up with their charges and let them out. Valorie was with Arcee and Jack. She had a smirk on her face while everyone else looked miserable.

"Well, how did my… I mean, OUR, projects do?" Ratchet asked.

Jack, Raf, and Miko shared glances and told them everything that had happened. Apparently they were still far behind and decided to let Ratchet help them with their projects, which he made totally related to Cybertron. It involved a planet model of cybertron for Miko, a Cybertronian engine for jack which went out of control, and a Cybertronian volcano that made a hole in the school roof. And of course, the three of them failed.

"What about you Val?" Hope asked.

Valorie's face lit up, "I got an A!"

Hope smiled big as she knelt down to congratulate her friend. "Alright!" she said as she made a fist and held it in front of Valorie for a fist pump. Valorie made a fist and pounded against Hope's."You really worked hard on it Val."

Ratchet was upset that his projects didn't make the cut, "Well, on our planet you three would have received highest honours!" he growled as he stormed off.

"And that's what happens when you wait until last minute," Valorie told Jack.

"Alright, I learned my lesson," Jack grumbled at his cousin.

"And the next time the Mad Scientist offers help, run for your life," Hope advised.

"I heard that!" Ratchet's voice boomed from the other hangar.

Hope was really getting creeped out by the medic's hearing, "Okay seriously, how the frag can he hear me from over there?!"

* * *

**And that was chapter 9! I hope you liked it. I hope to get the next chapter up soon, but it might take time with work and everything. But for you guys, I'll see what I can do. Please review and I am open to ideas for future chapters. Until next time! :)**


	10. Scrapheap

**Happy Halloween! And to celebrate, I have decided to update Chapter 10, Scrapheap! Big thanks to those who reviewed my last update. I have been getting really awesome reviews on this story and I want to say thank you because those reviews are what keep me motivated to continue writing this story. You guys are awesome :)! I'm so glad that you are all enjoying this story. **

**Now back to the update. This chapter is so far the longest chapter I've ever done in this story. it will make you laugh, cry, and possibly scream like a little girl lol. I hope you guys like it. So here it is, Transformers Prime: Hope Ch 10: Scrapheap. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Transformers Prime: Hope

Chapter 10: Scrapheap

Description: The bots have unwanted guests, and have no choice but to fight for their lives while Optimus and Arcee fight for theirs in the Arctic.

Warnings: Cybertronian language, horrific scenes, and girly screaming :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, just OCs.

* * *

**(Arctic)**

"Are w-we th-there yet?" Hope asked as her dentas chattered. She, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead were sent out to a frozen waste land where an Energon reading was detected. This was Hope's first Arctic exploration… and she hoped it was the last.

"No we're not there yet," Bulkhead replied with agitation.

_"__Can't handle the cold, sis?" _Bumblebee asked with a smirk.

"Sh-sh-shut up!" she chattered as she wrapped her arms around herself trying to stay warm.

"We should be almost there," Bulkhead said, "another two hours out here and our systems will freeze solid. I'm already starting to freeze up."

"I-I've b-b-been fr-fr-freezing ever s-s-since we g-g-got here," Hope said out loud.

"_Where is that Energon signature anyway?" _Bumblebee asked.

"It should be just beyond this ridge," Bulkhead said as he looked at his handheld.

The two scouts followed the former wrecker to the edge of the slope and slid down. Bulkhead took another look at his handheld. He looked confused.

"I don't get it," he said, "These readings are off the meter."

Hope shivered as she looked around at the white landscape. Her optics then caught something not too far away.

"Over th-there!" she said.

The two mechs looked to where Hope was pointing. The trio walked over and looked down at a black pod trapped in the ice.

* * *

**(Autobot Base)**

"You okay Hope?" Bulkhead asked.

After the three bots returned to Base, they were immediately sent to med bay for their defrosting procedure. Each bot was connected to the machine by tubes as it warmed up their systems. Bulkhead and Bumblebee were already almost done thawing, but poor Hope was still shivering as she felt her systems slowly warm up. She still had her arms wrapped around herself as she tried to get warm faster. She frowned as her dentas continued chattering.

"I n-never want t-to s-see s-snow again as-s l-long as I l-live," she mumbled.

Bulkhead chuckled, "You did pretty good for your first Arctic recon mission. You probably handled it better then Bumblebee did on his first try."

"_I wasn't that bad," _Bumblebee beeped arguably.

"Oh yeah?" Bulkhead smirked, "First time you went, you already got so cold that you called for a bridge back to base five minutes after the mission started. Once the portal popped up, you ran for it like Unicron was on your tailpipe."

Hope dropped her frown and let out a snicker as her brother folded his arms and frowned at the former wrecker.

_"__At least I didn't slip down a slope and roll myself into a giant snow ball!" _Bumblebee shot back.

Bulkhead frowned at that.

After thirty minutes of thawing, and bickering, the three were ready to move on with the day, even though Ratchet wasn't fully sure that they were completely through procedure.

"I told you Doc, we're fine," Bulkhead said as he pulled the tube off of him. He tried to get up, but Ratchet stopped him. "The only way to be certain your fine Bulkhead is to endure standard defrosting procedure. You know prolonged exposure to subzero temperatures can cause permanent system damage."

"Ratchet," Optimus said walking up with Arcee, "Have you learned anything more of our Arctic find?"

"Not yet. The pod can't be open while it's frozen solid," Ratchet explained. He walked off with Optimus to discuss more on the matter.

Hope, finally getting all warmed up again unplugged herself and hopped off the berth.

"We should probably pick the kids up now," Hope said as she stretched out her arms.

"_Right, today's Saturday! They're off school today," _Bumblebee beeped.

"Hey Hope, can you pick up Jack for me? There's some stuff I have to do before I get sent out," Arcee asked.

"Sure Cee," Hope smiled as she, Bumblebee and Bulkhead transformed and drove off.

* * *

**(1/2 hour later)**

Ratchet walked over to the ground bridge controls to set the coordinates for Prime and Arcee.

"Arcee and I will search for any clue which might explain the origin of our Arctic find," Optimus said.

"Only until your sensors sound. Remember once your core temperature reaches the blue zone, system failures aren't likely their eminent," Ratchet said.

The sound of driving made heads turn towards the entrance as Hope, Bumblebee and Bulkhead drove in. They stopped and let their human friends climb out before transforming to their bipedal modes.

"Miss us Doc Bot?" Miko greeted.

"Uhhh, shouldn't they be in school?" Ratchet asked annoyed.

"On a Saturday?" Valorie reminded him, "We have the whole weekend off… to spend with you." she grinned at the last part. Ratchet rolled his optics in annoyance.

Jack walked over to Arcee. "I wasn't expecting a carpool. What gives Arcee?"

"Tag team Jack. It's my turn for exploration duty," Arcee told him.

"Oh too bad. It's a beautiful day for a ride. Would hate for you to feel guilty for leaving me indoors," he said trying to coax her to let him come.

"Arctic exploration duty," she clarified.

"Indoors where it's warm," Jack said walking away.

Raf approached Optimus and Arcee. "The arctic? I've always wanted to see snow."

"I would invite you to join Rafael, but the conditions are much too extreme even for we autobots," Optimus told the young boy.

"I understand," Raf said, sounding a little upset.

Optimus turned to walk away, but turned towards Raf and added, "But, I will bring you back a snowball."

Raf's face lit up. "That would be awesome."

Optimus turned and walked towards the ground bridge. Hope was standing close by.

"Take care out there. And don't let yourself freeze to death," Hope told her Sire.

Optimus gave her a smile, "I'll be alright Hope."

Hope gave him a small smile, "I know, but daughters can worry too you know."

Optimus let out a chuckle as he gave Hope a quick hug. "I'll be back soon."

He walked off as Arcee followed behind. She smiled at the green femme. "I'll make sure he gets home safely," she said.

"I know you will," Hope smiled, "Be careful out there." The two wheeler nodded as she followed after Prime.

Hope watched as Optimus and Arcee disappeared into the ground bridge. She turned and walked towards where Valorie and the others were.

"So, what should we do today?" Miko asked.

"_How bout a video game tournament?" _Bumblebee suggested while gesturing his servos like he was holding a video game controller.

"Yeah, lets have a video game tournament!" Raf agreed.

"Sounds good. Lets do 'Guys vs Girls'," Valorie suggested. The girls agreed to that, but the guys, not so much.

"What? That's lame," Jack said.

"Forget it," Bulkhead said.

_"__No way,"_ Bumblebee beeped.

All the girls shared glances and smirked. "Don't tell us you boys are afraid of losing to a bunch of girls?" Hope grinned.

All the guys shared glances with one another. They decided to accept the challenge.

"Alright then," Bulkhead said with a grin, "but lets make it interesting."

Hope folded her arms, "what did you have in mind?"

All the guys huddled as they whispered amongst themselves. The girls stood there and waited. Finally the guys turned their attentions back to them. Jack was the first to speak.

"If we win, Val and Miko have to dress up as cheerleaders and do nothing but cheer, ALL day," he said with a grin.

Both Valorie and Miko glanced at one another, already dreading it. Bulkhead then continued.

"And YOU Hope, will have to cheer with them, with a hot pink paint job," he smirked.

_"__WITH flower print designs,"_ Bumblebee added.

Hope shuttered at the thought. All her life she hated the colour pink, and they knew it. And to top it off, they wanted her to add flower print. She hated all that girly stuff. The last thing she wanted was to look like a real sized Barbie dream car.

She and the girls huddled to discuss the situation. They finally turned to the guys to give them their answer.

"We accept," Hope said.

"But if we win," Valorie smirked, "Both Jack and Raf have to dress up as disney princesses of OUR choice and do what ever we say."

"ALL day!" Miko added.

Hope smirked at the two mechs, "And YOU two mechs will join them, dressed as pretty ballerinas with frilly skirts, bows, flowers, and LOTS and LOTS of sparkles."

The guys glanced at one another. Feeling confident in themselves, they agreed.

"You're on!" Bulkhead said as he and Hope shook on it.

"Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Hope, here, now!" Ratchet shouted from the ground bridge controls.

The three bots looked at one another, slightly disappointed that their video game tournament had just been postponed.

"We'll just have some practice rounds until you guys get back," Valorie said.

The bots nodded as they walked towards the medic. The controls were smoking as Ratchet was looking it over.

"You can't boss us around just because the boss is out," Bulkhead said to the medic.

"I need some heavy lifting. The ground bridge is down," Ratchet said.

Hope's optics widened with worry. "What?! Did my Sire and Arcee make it through?" she asked worryingly.

"Optimus and Arcee made it through just fine," Ratchet assured her, "It's bringing them back that concerns me. Now remove those panels," he told everyone as he pointed to the ground bridge's maintenance core, "Chop, chop."

Hope wasted no time as she got to the panels and started removing them. Bulkhead and Bumblebee quickly went over to help her. They removed the panels from the floor and stood back as Ratchet took a look. He pulled out a piece which strangely looked like it had bite marks on it.

"We most definitely have a problem," he said, "But what could have caused this?"

Just then the lights flickered on and off. "Or that?" Bulkhead added.

"It might be the main grid. Hopefully it isn't a substation malfunction," Ratchet said.

Just then Raf, who had just gone for a walk around the base, came back with something in his arms. "Hey guys, look what I found," he said.

"We're busy," Ratchet said as he looked up at the young human. But once he saw what was in the boy's arms, he screamed and jumped up. Bumblebee and Bulkhead did the same and drew out their weapons. Hope on the other hand was bewildered at the mechs' reactions. She looked at what the boy had. In Raf's arms was a small metal creature that seemed to be fast asleep. Hope still had no idea what the fuss was about.

"What is that?" Hope asked as she knelt down to get a better look.

"Hope, STAY BACK!" Ratchet warned as he pulled Hope back behind him.

The other humans got in front of Raf and tried to calm the bots down.

"Whoa, what's with you guys?" Miko asked.

"Scraplet! SCRAPLET!" Bulkhead screamed.

"Whats a scraplet? Raf asked.

"Only the most dangerous vermin ever to crawl upon the face of Cybertron," Ratchet said. The kids just looked at them strangely.

Hope's optics widened as she glanced at the creature. She had heard many stories about scraplets and how dangerous they were, but she never saw one. She stared at it for a moment. She started laughing. The mechs looked at her like she was insane.

"That?!" she started, trying to calm down, "That's a scraplet?! You mechs are freaking out over a cute little thing like that? I thought you said they were vicious creatures with hundreds of razor sharp teeth?"

_"__They are!" _Bumblebee beeped.

"Oh sure, it looks like a real killer," she said, rolling her optics. "What's it gonna do, bite my digit?" she chuckled.

"Don't be fooled!" Ratchet warned.

"Oh come on, you're giant robots," Miko said, "Scrappy here is… teeny."

"You don't know the damage that teeny thing can do!" Bulkhead yelled.

Raf who was still holding it looked down at the scraplet. "Aww, he wouldn't hurt anything," he said. It was at that time that the scraplet woke up from its nap. It blinked its big purple optics as it looked at the four bots. As soon as it saw them it opened its mouth, revealing its razor sharp teeth. It jumped out of Raf's arms and charged right at them. Hope immediately stumbled back as her reaction changed to fear. She and the others began shooting at it, but it was so small that it dodged them easily. It then jumped on Bumblebee's leg and started chewing its way up. Hope was horrified at what was happening. Bumblebee tried to get it off but it crawled to his back making it harder for him to reach. Hope reached out and grabbed the scraplet off her brother. She tightened her fist, hoping to squish the tiny bug in her grip.

"Gotcha," she smirked.

However she soon felt pain in her servo as the scraplet ate through it. It began eating its way up her arm. Terrified, she shrieked and flung the scraplet off her. The tiny creature got back up and charged again, but was stopped by Raf who was constantly hitting it with a pipe.

Jack had to stop Raf. "Easy there, Killer," he said.

Raf and Valorie ran to their bots. Energon was slowly leaking from Bumblebee and Hope's wounds.

"Okay, maybe not so cute," Hope said as she looked at her now destroyed servo in horror. Ratchet was checking over both her and Bumblebee.

"I am so sorry!" Raf apologized.

Valorie looked at Hope's injuries, "Are they going to be okay?" she asked.

"They're only mesh wounds. They'll live," Ratchet replied.

"Now do you believe us Hope?" Bulkhead said to the femme, "All scraplets do is dismantle machinery and eat anything metal, especially living metal."

Jack and Miko walked over towards Raf and Valorie. "Well bug squashed, problem over, right?" Jack said.

"No," Ratchet said, "When it comes to scraplets its never just one, and I fear I know how they got in here."

Everyone was gathered in the room where the pod was thawing. But the part that had thawed had a big hole in it, like something had chewed its way out.

"It's a trap," Ratchet said, "a scraplet trap."

"An empty scraplet trap," Bulkhead nervously added.

"Most likely ejected into space eons ago. Only to wind up in the arctic where the temperature kept them in stasis." Ratchet added.

"Until we brought the thaw," Valorie said.

"Now they're wide awake and ready to eat," Miko added.

"So how many are we talking about?" Raf asked.

"Thousands," Ratchet replied, "If we're even that lucky. But with the power malfunctions and ground bridge damage are sure signs that their infestations are underway."

* * *

**(Arctic)**

Optimus and Arcee had split up to cover more ground as they continued on their recon mission. Optimus was climbing down a cliff side when his autobot insignia started beeping and flashing blue.

"Arcee, what's your status?" he asked over the com-link.

"My sensors going off," she reported, "guess we should call for pickup before things get chilly."

Optimus agreed and activated his com-link to the Base. "Optimus to Base, core temperature readings have reached the blue zone. Prepare to activate ground bridge." But all he got was electrical static in return. He began to worry.

* * *

**(Autobot Base)**

Ratchet tried contacting Optimus at the monitor. " Ratchet to Optimus, do you read? We have a situation." But all they got was static.

"Scrap! The scraplets have got into the com-link systems," Ratchet said furiously. He turned to the others, "If we don't eradicate these creatures immediately, they will reduce the entire Base into a scrapheap."

"I say we bug out of here and let 'em keep it!" Bulkhead shouted in fear.

"What?! No!" Hope argued.

"Why not?!" Bulkhead asked, still panicking.

"My Sire and Arcee are still in the Arctic! If we don't get the ground bridge working soon, they'll die! That's why!"

"They will?" Jack asked in surprised. He began to worry about Arcee.

Miko stormed over to Bulkhead. "Bulkhead, you never run," she argued.

The former wrecker looked down at his charge, "Miko, you haven't seen a swarm of these things devour a bot, I have. They pick you apart from the inside out, going for the small juicy bits first fuse by fuse. Circuit by circuit till theres nothing left, and I mean nothing… not even your optics."

"You're not helping, Bulkhead!" Hope snapped, trying to fight the image in her processor of what he just described.

Jack immediately realized the situation. "You have to let us help," he said.

"We're not made of metal," Valorie added.

"Typically I find your fleshiness to be your least inviting quality," Ratchet stated, "But it would appear to provide an advantage under these circumstances."

"Okay, good, then we pair off. One bot with one human," Valorie said.

"I'll watch your back while you repair the ground bridge," Jack told Ratchet.

"And we go on the bug hunt," Miko said while pointing at the other three bots who groaned.

* * *

**(Arctic)**

A snowstorm was raging as Optimus and Arcee were making their way back to the arrival point. They were fighting against the wind as Optimus tried contacting base again.

"Optimus to Base, do you read?" he asked. Nothing.

Arcee stumbled and collapsed from the cold. Optimus stopped and walked back to help her up.

"Are you sure a nice long drive wouldn't help? I hear Miami is beautiful this time of year." she said dusting herself off.

"The nearest temperate climate is too distant Arcee. Attempting to reach it would expend too much energy and hasten the freezing process," Optimus told the two wheeler, "Until Ratchet sends for us, and he will, our best option would be to seek shelter and insulate ourselves."

* * *

**(Autobot Base)**

The bots thought it was best to cover more ground by splitting up each with their human charges. Hope stayed very closely to Valorie who had her blaster all ready to fire at their unwanted guests.

"I feel like I'm in one of those human horror movies," Hope said nervously as she glanced around the hallway with her blasters up and ready.

"I know what you mean," Valorie agreed, "Reminds me of a movie I saw where these two girls were trapped in an abandoned factory and were walking down a dark hallway just like this. Then just like that they were attacked by these flesh eating…"

"Uh, maybe I shouldn't have brought up the subject," Hope interrupted, not wanting to hear the ending.

The lights then turned off leaving both girl and femme in the dark. Just then they heard a high-pitched scream which made them both jump. The lights turned back on, revealing a timid Hope huddling close to Valorie like a scared little kid. She soon realized her reaction as she sheepishly looked down at Valorie who was giving her an odd look. She stood back up and tried to straighten herself out. But she knew that scream didn't come from either of them.

"Was that Miko?" Hope asked.

"Probably. Though I never thought of her as a screamer," Valorie said.

"What's there for her to be scared of? It's metal these things eat," Hope said.

They kept walking down the hallway, jumping at every noise they heard. Just then they heard firing coming from around the corner, then another high-pitched scream. They rushed around the corner and raised their blasters up, expecting the worse. However, they weren't expecting what they just saw.

Hope and Valorie stared in disbelief as Bulkhead was screaming and flailing his arms around at the cables that had fallen on top of him. Miko was there trying to calm him down. Bulkhead finally did and looked up to see Hope and Valorie trying so hard not to laugh.

Bulkhead frowned. "Not, a word," he said as he pulled one of the cables off him. But when he did, tiny ball like figures began falling on top of him. Everyone began to panic as they revealed to have legs and razor sharp teeth.

Bulkhead let out another scream along with Hope as the scraplets began crawling and eating away on them. Valorie immediately began blasting at the vermin while Miko took some swings at them with her wrench. Both Hope and Bulkhead managed to shake some off as they continued blasting at the swarm. One actually got to Hope's knee joint and began chewing off of that. This caused Hope's leg to give out and have her to fall to the ground on one knee. She flicked the bug off and killed it with her blaster. She kept firing, but was having difficulty getting back up. Bulkhead, seeing the femme having difficulty, made his way towards her, trying to keep anymore scraplets away from her. Luckily, Valorie and Miko was able to kill off a lot of them before they could even get to their bots. Finally the four were able to kill off all the scraplets, but they knew there was more near by. Bulkhead and Hope looked pretty chewed up as they were leaking a lot of Energon.

"You okay Bulkhead?" Hope asked the big mech.

"Yeah. You?"

"I'm good," She tried to stand up, but her knee gave out as she fell back on one knee.

"Hope!" Valorie said worryingly.

The wound on Hope's knee had a big gash as Energon oozed out of it. Bulkhead helped her back up.

"We have to get you to Ratchet, now," he said.

Bulkhead put his arm around Hope as she used his body to support herself to walk. The group headed back to the main hangar. They turned a corner and bumped into Bumblebee and Raf, who just also had a recent surprise attack. Bumblebee looked more chewed up then before as he too was leaking Energon.

"Bee!" Hope said worryingly.

"_I'm fine,"_ he said. He noticed Hope's injury, "_Your leg!" _

"It's nothing," Hope said.

Bumblebee didn't believe her as he went to the other side of her and had her arm come around his shoulder. Both he and Bulkhead walked Hope back to the hangar with the three humans watching their backs.

They finally made it back to the main hangar where Jack and Ratchet were.

"Ratchet, get the patch kit!" Bulkhead requested, "Hope's injured, and we're leaking Energon like…" he stopped when he looked up at the ceiling and panicked, "WHOA!"

Everyone looked up and saw the scraplets flying around in a swarm.

"They can fly?!" Valorie shouted in disbelief.

Jack was trying to kill them off with a fire extinguisher as they swarmed around Ratchet. The scraplets saw the other bots and charged at them. Bulkhead and Bumblebee tried to shield Hope as the scraplets latched onto their armour. Though it proved useless as a bunch managed to latch onto her. She screamed in pain as she and the others fell to the floor, trying desperately to get the bugs off. Their human friends started blasting, hitting, and spraying at the vermin, not wanting their friends to get devoured. But it was difficult with more entering the hangar.

* * *

**(Arctic)**

Optimus and Arcee were able to find shelter from the storm, but not the cold. They were huddled close together in an attempt to keep warm. Optimus glanced over at Arcee who has in a resting position with her optics closed.

"Arcee, wake up!" he ordered gently.

She groaned and moved a little, "Just resting my eyes," she said rubbing her optics.

"The longer we remain alert, the longer we remain alive," Optimus reminded her.

"What do you suggest?" she asked, "Wait, how about a game? Lets play 'Who Screwed Things Up Back at Base'?"

"Our predicament could be the result of a simple malfunction," Optimus stated.

"Caused by Bulkhead," Arcee guessed with a slight smile, "Let's see, no com-link, maybe even no power. The big lug probably tripped over a cord. He's never been to graceful." She started to chuckle as a memory came to her head, "Remember when we first arrived on Earth and Bulkhead walked into those power lines?" she chuckled, "Who knew he could dance like that?"

Optimus smiled at the memory. "Bulkhead may be… too large… for this world, but his inner strength is without bounds. One must not be measured by size alone," he said confidently.

Arcee smiled as she glanced out at the storm. "I hope they get the com-link back up and running soon. I promised Hope I would get you back home safely."

Optimus held onto the thought of Hope. He too had promised her that he would come back safely. He couldn't give up. He was going to see his daughter again. They just had to be patient and continue fighting to stay online.

* * *

**(Autobot Base)**

More and more scraplets continued swarming around the room. It was to much to bare for the bots. The humans were trying desperately to get them off their friends.

Hope had never felt so much pain before in her life. It was a living nightmare, and she was terrified. She had been scared before many times, but what she was experiencing was way more horrifying then anything she had ever encountered. A voice in her head began telling her it was useless. There was no escape. They were all going to die. She was beginning to lose hope.

Valorie, who was either shooting or hitting the scraplets with her blaster noticed Hope struggling, like she was giving up. Worried for her guardian, she called out to her.

"Don't you dare give up Hope!" she shouted harshly.

The voice in Hope's head went away once she heard Valorie's voice. She was able to look over at the girl who was still firing at the on coming swarm.

Valorie continued shouting at the femme, "You can't just give up, you're better then that! Where's the Hope that pushed herself to fight, even when it seemed hopeless?! Where's the Hope who faced Megatron and helped stop an army of undead?! Where's the Hope that would protect her friends and family no matter what?! Optimus and Arcee are still out there without a way back home! If you give up now, you're giving up on them!"

Valorie's words were a slap to the face for Hope. A slap to wake up. _Sire, _Hope thought. Her Sire and Arcee were still out there. She was driven by so much fear that she nearly gave up on getting them back home. She looked around and saw the others still on the floor screaming and trying to get the scraplets off. But she wasn't scared anymore. In fact, she was getting angry. Those bugs were attacking her family!

_I am not going down like this! _She thought angrily in her head. _Sire and Arcee depend on us! _She slowly got up on one knee and brushed off the scraplets latched onto her. _I will never give up! _She activated her blasters. _I must fight… _She raised her blasters up as she glared at the swarm. _For my life… _She locked on target. FOR_ MY FAMILY!_

She let out a battle cry as she began firing. She was shooting so many blasts that many of the tiny creatures didn't have a chance to escape her wrath. She was careful not to hit the humans and the other bots. Any scraplet that even got close to her comrades she blasted to oblivion. She kept firing while Valorie kept anymore from trying to reach Hope.

The bots were astounded by the femme's sudden urge to fight. but it was the motivation they needed. They slowly got up themselves and fought along side Hope. This made it easier for the humans as they continued protecting their guardians.

It wasn't long until all scraplets were either blasted, frozen, or busted and we're laying dead around the floor. The humans stood in the middle, making sure that they killed them all. As for the bots, all four of them were laying against the base of the balcony in a sitting position. Each were in bad shape with bite marks all over their bodies. Hope hissed in pain as she tried to reposition her leg. She was beginning to feel weak from the lost of Energon, as was everyone else.

"Did we get them all?" Jack asked.

A sound then echoed through the air vents and filled the room.

"Hardly," Ratchet responded weakly, "These were just scouts."

_"__You gotta be kidding me?!,"_ Bumblebee whirred as he fell on his back.

"Frag," Hope mumbled. She didn't know if she had enough energy to keep fighting. She already lost a lot of Energon plus had an injured leg.

"So, do the rest know we're in here?" Bulkhead asked.

"If we allow ourselves to become their next meal, Optimus and Arcee will never make it home. We must get the ground bridge operational," Ratchet replied.

"Then we can use it to send the scraplets anywhere on Earth," Raf said.

"Why not the Arctic? We already know they don't do cold," Jack suggested.

"Sweet! One stop shopping," Miko added.

"Given the body mass of the scraplets, subzero temperatures should freeze them on contact. So think Ratchet, think. If the ground bridge is still down, there must be a breach in the energon fuel line." Ratchet said.

Bumblebee sat himself back up. _"But who's going to go down and fix it?" _he asked.

"If we weren't breaching, then one of us could get over there and fix it," Bulkhead added.

Hope then slowly got to her pedes. "I'll go," she said weakly. She stumbled and fell back on her knee.

"No you're not!" Ratchet snapped, "Not with that leg of yours! You would be an easy target!"

"You expect me to sit here while my Sire is out there dying?!" Hope snapped back.

"If you go, then YOU will die before you could even make it to the breach!" Ratchet told her.

"We'll go," Valorie said.

Both bots turned to face their human friends. Jack walked up beside his cousin. "Where is it?" he asked.

"And how do we fix it?" Raf added.

Realizing that the humans had a better shot at fixing the fuel line, Ratchet told them where and how. The humans headed off while the bots stayed behind. Hope sat back down beside Bumblebee. Every bot was silent for a moment. Hope decided to speak up.

"So if we get…" Hope stopped herself and decided to correct her sentence, "_When _we get the ground bridge open, do we send the creepy-crawlies out or our Bots in?" She asked.

"Optimus and Arcee will be fresh meat," Ratchet said, "If we bring them in first, the Scraplets will have no reason to leave. We'll need bait."

"Where are we going to get bait?! Bulkhead shouted angrily, "The scraplets have already helped themselves to everything in here!"

Just then they heard a noise grow louder and louder. The next thing they knew, a new swarm of scraplets burst right through the air vents and into the hangar. The Bots remained silent as the tried to flatten themselves to the ground, hoping they would remain unseen.

* * *

**(Arctic)**

Optimus and Arcee were trying very hard to stay awake. They were beginning to doubt that they would ever make it back home.

"You know the worse part?" Arcee asked weakly as she laid against Optimus' side, "after battling Decepticons all these years, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up. This is how our lights go out?"

"Arcee, this may not be the finish we had planned, but if this is indeed the end…" he said as he began reaching out his servo to her, "If we are to become one with the Allspark…"

Arcee placed her servo in his as she smiled. "It has been an honour serving with you, Optimus Prime."

* * *

**(Autobot Base)**

The bots looked up worryingly as more scraplets came in and were feasting on the support beams. Just then the four humans ran back into the hangar with good news.

"Ratchet, all systems go!" Jack shouted.

"Fire up the ground bridge!" Valorie added.

Ratchet weakly stood up and grabbed the control lever. "Groundbridge… activated," he announced as he pulled it down and collapsed to the floor.

* * *

**(Arctic)**

Optimus wasn't sure how long he could keep fighting. He was already having difficulty keeping his optics open. He knew he was right at death's door. He shut his optics tight, thinking that he would never see his daughter again.

"Forgive me, Hope," he whispered.

Just then a familiar sound entered his audio receptors. He opened his optics and looked up to see a ground bridge vortex. Their ticket home.

* * *

**(Autobot Base)**

Hope looked at the now active ground bridge and up at the scraplets. She looked around and noticed that the others were too weak to move.

"Bait huh?" she thought out loud. She slowly got herself back up. She stumbled, but regained her balance. It hurt like the Pit moving her leg, but she forced herself to limp to the front of the ground bridge. The scraplets looked down and saw the femme.

"Who's hungry?!" she shouted waving her arms to get their attention.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee were horrified.

"Hope, NO!" Bulkhead shouted.

The scraplets revealed their sharp teeth as they charged at Hope. Hope quickly limped through the ground bridge with the swarm right on her tail. Bulkhead and Bumblebee quickly laid flat down as the scraplets flew above, completely ignoring them.

Hope kept pushing herself trying to fight the pain in her leg. She could feel the some of the scraplets latch onto her already. She just kept going.

* * *

**(Arctic)**

Optimus and Arcee slowly made their way towards the ground bridge vortex, trying to use each other as support. Just then they saw Hope come out. At first they thought she came to assist them, but Optimus could tell something wasn't right.

"GET DOWN!" she shouted as she dropped into the snow. Optimus' optics widened with horror as a swarm of scraplets came through the portal. The swarm was now heading straight for Optimus and Arcee. Optimus quickly placed himself in front of Arcee. But thanks to the freezing subzero temperature, the scraplets instantly froze and just pelted against the armour of the two Autobots.

Optimus and Arcee watched as Hope slowly got to her knees as the scraplets that had latched onto her froze and fell off of her. She looked up and smiled at them, happy to see that they were both still online. But she had a new problem. She began shivering as she wrapped her arms around herself and chattered her dentas.

"I r-really h-hate the c-cold," she mumbled.

* * *

**(Later, back at Autobot Base)**

Everybot was in medbay. The humans were following Ratchet's instructions as they tended to the bots. Ratchet and Optimus were resting against the wall as Optimus was trying to defrost. All the others were each on a berth. Hope had her leg patched up, but it would still be quite some before she could move around. She laid in the berth as Valorie checked her injuries and made sure no energon was still leaking.

Hope turned her head to face Valorie. "Hey, thanks for not letting me give up Val. I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for you. I owe you one." Hope thanked her friend.

"You don't owe me anything," Valorie told her, "You already saved me from cons, AND Megatron. We're even."

Hope smirked,"I guess you're right."

"Besides," Valorie grinned, "It's hard to find fancy european cars in Jasper."

Hope laughed, "Gee, thanks."

"What are friends for," Valorie chuckled. She checked the patch that was sealing the gash in Hope's knee. "How does your leg feel?"

"Still hurts, but its getting better," Hope said.

"Good," Ratchet said to the femme, listening to the girls' conversation. "Cause until your leg fully heals, you are to remain at Base."

Hope turned to the medic. "For how long?!" Hope asked with a frown.

"If it heals properly, about three weeks," he responded.

Hope rapidly got into a sitting position. "THREE WEEKS?! you have got to be kidding me?!" she yelled, not taking the news well.

"If you ever want to do your stunt driving again, you need to stay here and recover. If you don't you could permanently damage yourself and never be able to drive again," The medic told her sternly, but calmly.

Hope moaned at the thought of not driving for three weeks as she flopped back on her back.

"Fragging scraplets," she growled.

"Don't worry," Valorie said trying to cheer her up, "I'll come over every day and you and me can hang out here until your leg gets better."

Hope stopped sulking as she turned to Valorie, giving her a smile. "Thanks Val," she said.

Valorie smiled back before she left to help Jack with Arcee.

"You are lucky to have a friend like Valorie," Optimus told Hope. Her berth was very close to where he was. She turned her helm to the side to face him better.

"I still can't believe that after everything you've been through today, you still remembered to get Raf a snowball," she said.

Optimus smiled softly at his daughter. "I never go back on my word, no matter the situation. Though I am not the only one who has had an eventful day. You were brave today Hope."

Hope glanced away for a moment, "Actually, I was terrified," she glanced back at her Sire, "Mostly for you."

Optimus inched his way towards her. Since they were in no condition to hug one another, he reached his servo out and wrapped it around Hope's. Hope smiled at her Sire as she felt comfort from his gesture.

Ratchet continued instructing the humans. "Report biocircuitry status?" he requested.

"Levels are rising!" Jack reported.

"Excellent. Rafael, keep a close watch on Bumblebee's electropulse monitor," Ratchet instructed, "Miko, check Bulkhead's interface patch."

"It's steady!" Raf announced.

"Looking good!" Miko reported with a thumbs up.

Optimus turned to the medic. "Perhaps you should get some rest yourself, old friend," he suggested, "You saved quite a few lives today."

"It… wasn't all my doing," Ratchet admitted as he looked at the humans who were working diligently. "We're just fortunate that this happened, on a Saturday," he remarked.

"Are human friends may be small, but they are strong," Optimus complimented. Hope smiled as she agreed.

Just then a high-pitched scream filled the room. All optics and eyes were turned to a terrified Miko.

"What is it?!" Valorie asked as she grabbed her blaster which she had strapped around her back.

"Scraplet?!" Jack asked as he and Raf held a weapon of their choice.

"SPIDER!" Miko screeched. Everyone looked at her in disbelief. "Is it on me?!" she continued screaming as she flailed her arms around and ran out of the room.

Bulkhead stared in disbelief as his human charge continued panicking. "Did she just scream like a little girl?"

* * *

**(The next day)**

"This sucks," Hope whined.

It had only been a day since the infestation and all the bots were back on their pedes. Everyone but Hope. She had to stay off her leg for the next few days to help it heal faster. She sulked as she laid on the berth. She was so bored.

Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and the kids were in the hangar with her. It was only nine o clock in the morning, and they were already bored. Valorie was standing on the balcony with the other humans, trying to think of something for them to do. She looked around at everyone in the hangar and remembered something.

"You know, we still have some unfinished business?" she suggested with a grin as she held up a game controller. Everyone, including Hope, shared glances and grinned.

* * *

**(Four hours Later)**

"You boys coming out or what?!" Hope called out.

The girls smiled in triumph as Jack and Raf walked out first. Jack was dressed as Queen Elsa with the slim blue ice dress, long blonde wig, heels, and makeup. Poor Raf was dressed as Belle with a big poofy yellow gown, long brown wig, and make up. Both frowned as Valorie and Miko were laughing and taking pics of them with their phones.

"This is so going on Facebook," Valorie laughed.

"I am not doing this!" Jack growled.

"It's this, or we shave your head."

Jack gave a scowl. Preferring to keep his hair, he mumbled, "What colour lipstick do you want me to wear?"

Hope waited for the two mechs to walk out. When they did, she could not stop laughing.

Bumblebee and Bulkhead were the ugliest ballerinas she had ever seen. Because there were no tutus that would fit twenty foot tall alien robots, the girls had to use wavy sheets of metal to make the mechs tutus. And they didn't hold back with the decorating. Bumblebee wore a bright sparkly purple tutu with flowers and bows all around his waist and tiny flowers on each frill. He had purple hearts all over his paint job, giant bows and flowers on his helm, arms, pedes, and his door wings, and was covered from head to pede in purple and pink sparkles.

Bulkhead's tutu had a big pink bow on the front and was covered in pink sparkles with flowers on each frill. He also had hearts all over his paint job, but they were pink instead of purple. He had flowers and bows all over himself, and a big pink bow on top of his helm. And just like Bumblebee, he was covered in pink and purple sparkles. Both mechs had huge frowns on their faces.

_"She __will never let us hear the end of this,"_ Bumblebee beeped lowly.

"Nope," Bulkhead grumbled.

"You got that right!" Hope smiled as she pulled out a data pad and switched it to camera. She grinned as she got the two in the shot.

"Smile!"

* * *

**And that was chapter 10! I know, the line that Hope said to Optimus was used in Predatory, but thats an episode just for Jack and Arcee which Hope isn't in, so why not Hope say it to Optimus in this one? Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter. Please review and I'm still open to any ideas if anyone has anything they want to share. I will try and update soon with Con Job. Until next time! Happy Halloween! :)**


	11. Con Job

**Hey guys! Thank you for the reviews, I'm glad you all loved the ending of Chapter 10 lol. I now bring you chapter 11 of Transformers Prime: Hope. Enjoy!**

* * *

Transformers Prime: Hope

Chapter 11: Con Job

Description: The bots welcome Bulkhead's old friend to the team, but there is more to their guest than meets the eye.

Warnings: Cybertronian swearing and violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, just OCs

* * *

**(Autobot Base)**

It had been two weeks since the Scraplet infestation and everything was going back to normal. Hope's leg was healing rapidly and she was given permission to walk around again. But she still had to hold back on her driving and training. She missed her morning drives and wished to use all her energy to train. But, doctor's orders.

Valorie had kept her promise and came over to see Hope every single day after school. When Valorie's Aunt asked her where her car was, she had to lie and say it was at a shop and that it would be sometime before they could fix it. Since they couldn't leave Base with Hope still in recovery, they would pass the time with movies, games, music, conversations, or funny cat videos. There were times where they didn't know what else to do and Hope would tell Valorie that she didn't have to stay if she didn't want to. But Valorie would decline and stay, not wanting her guardian to feel bored alone. Hope was thankful to have a friend like Valorie.

It was mid morning and Hope and Valorie were sitting in the main hangar talking about Valorie's day at her track meet. They heard Bulkhead and Miko walk in as Miko was already planning out their day.

"Okay, chores are all done. Now can we do some dune bashing?" she asked excitedly.

"I don't know Miko," Bulkhead said, "Last time I spent a week picking sand out of my actuator," he then saw Miko's look of disappointment, "But there's a monster truck rally in town," he offered.

"Optimus!" Ratchet called form the computer console getting everyone's attention. "I'm receiving a signal from a restricted band. It appears to be coming from a starship inside the solar system," he announced as everyone crowded around. Ratchet continued typing and gasped, "It's an Autobot Identification Beacon!"

"So there are more bots out there?" Jack asked curiously. He, Val, and Raf were standing on the raised platform.

"The masses spread throughout the galaxies when Cybertron finally went dark. But cons have been known to bait traps with false beacons," Arcee warned.

"Only one way to find out," Hope said.

Optimus spoke into the commlink, "Unknown vessel. this is Autobot Outpost Omega One. Identify yourself," he requested.

"_I've had warmer welcomes from Decepticon Combat Brigades," _a voice replied sarcastically.

Bulkhead jerked up at the sound of the voice. "Wheeljack?!" he exclaimed excitedly, "You old Con crusher! What are you doing all the way out here?"

"_Bulkhead? That you?" _The voice asked, "_What's with all the security?"_

"The rock we're on is crawling with cons," Bulkhead said, "How soon can you get here and even the odds?"

"_Sometime tomorrow… if I put metal to the pedal," _Wheeljack replied sounding anxious.

"Another bot is coming here?!" Hope asked with a smile.

"How cool is that?!" Miko exclaimed.

"Wheeljack… I know him by reputation only," he turned to Bulkhead, "Can you verify his voice print?"

"He is one thousand percent the real deal, Optimus," Bulkhead replied.

Optimus nodded understandingly. "We will send landing coordinates, Wheeljack, safe journey," Optimus bided.

"See you soon, buddy! I'll make sure you get a proper welcome!" Bulkhead promised as the communication ended.

"So, who's the boyfriend?" Arcee joked.

Bulkhead chuckled, "Me and Jackie go way back," he exclaimed, "We were part of the same warrior unit: The Wreckers," he slammed his fist into his servo. "Which means the cons will wish he had never found us."

"I can't wait! I finally get to meet the famous Wheeljack," Hope smiled. Bulkhead would always tell her stories about him and the Wreckers, especially about Wheeljack. She couldn't wait to finally meet him.

* * *

**(The next day)**

All the bots and humans were waiting by the computer for any signs of Wheeljack's arrival. Finally, one popped up.

"Wheeljack's ship is approaching the landing zone," Arcee says.

"Do you think he's here to visit?" Raf asked.

"Maybe he'll stay," Miko said. She thought for a moment. "Hmm, he'll have to find his own human though."

"I'm sure Ratchet would like that," Valorie joked.

Ratchet goes to the controls and types in the coordinates. "Groundbridge cycling up," he proclaimed. It then cackled with electricity. He banged his fist on the controls. "Blasted Scraplets! The equipment hasn't been the same since the infestation," Ratchet grumbled.

"So Wheeljack's gonna land halfway around the world and then you'll bridge him here," Jack surmised in confusion.

"We can't risk revealing the location of our base. Just incase the Decepticons are tracking Wheeljack's ship," Optimus explained.

Hope looked over at Bulkhead who was pacing, "Bulk, you keep pacing like that you'll end up in China," she laughed, "I've never seen you so anxious."

Bulkhead looked to her and chuckled, "Oh you're gonna love Wheeljack!" He said excitedly, "We were like brothers! And tonight, we're gonna party!"

"Alright!" Hope cheered.

"SWEET!" Miko chimed in.

Just then the alarms went off. "Bogies! Closing in on Wheeljack's position!" Arcee reported.

Bulkhead glared at the computer screen. "Con scum!" Ratchet was trying to get the Groundbridge up as Bulkhead turned to him. "Open the Groundbridge, Ratchet! We're missing all the action!"

Ratchet finally managed to activate the Groundbridge. "I'll prepare sickbay," he told Bulkhead.

Bulkhead laughed, "For who, the cons? This is Wheeljack we're talking about!" He, Arcee, and Bumblebee then ran through the vortex.

Hope wanted to go and help, but she was still grounded. She wished she could see Bulk's friend take on the cons like he did in Bulkhead's stories. It wasn't long until they requested a bridge and were back at base with Wheeljack. Once they made it through, Ratchet deactivated the Groundbridge which quickly started sparking again.

"Good thing that didn't happen when they were coming through," Valorie said. Hope nodded in agreement.

Bulkhead and Wheeljack walked towards Hope and the humans. "Hey, Wheeljack, meet my other buddy, Miko," Bulkhead gestured to where Miko was standing. "She can wreck with the best of us."

Miko waved at Wheeljack, "Hiya."

Wheeljack went up to her, "You keeping Bulkhead out of trouble?" he asked.

"I try, but trouble finds us anyway," she said with a grin.

"We're gonna get along just fine," Wheeljack grinned. Bulkhead then gestured towards Hope.

"And this is Hope," he said, "She's a scout just like Bumblebee, and is tough as nails."

Hope grinned at Bulkhead's compliment, and smiled at Wheeljack, "Hey!" she said as she extended her servo to shake his, "It's nice to finally meet you. Bulk has told me a lot about you."

He shook her servo and grinned, "Has he?"

"Yeah! He told me stories on all the adventures you two went on. I have to say my favourite one is the Battle of Vos. The way you took on the Cons single handedly and blew up their entire operation… So hardcore!"

Wheeljack chuckled, "I like you, femme."

Wheeljack turned his attention to Optimus who was approaching him. "Optimus Prime. It's a privilege," he greeted.

"Likewise, soldier. What have you to report on your long journey?" Optimus asked.

"Been bouncing from rock to rock, searching for signs of friend or foe. Now, I've found both," Wheeljack explained.

"We are few, but strong," Optimus stated, "We had suffered great losses, but we have grown and we would relish welcoming a new member into our fold."

Wheeljack smiled. I would be honoured," he stated happily.

Bulkhead pounded his servo on Wheeljack's back. "Then lets get this party started!" Both did a chest pump.

"Oh joy," Ratchet said with sarcasm.

* * *

**(1 hour later)**

The party broke out once the meet and greet was done. Miko was strumming her guitar while Bulkhead and Wheeljack were lobbing around the base. Ratchet, who wanted nothing to do with the party was busy trying to get the Groundbridge fully operational again.

Hope was standing beside Bumblebee and Arcee when she noticed her Sire heading for the exit. She walked over to him.

"You going out?" Hope asked her Sire, knowing he didn't like hanging around parties.

"Just for a drive," he told her.

"Drive safe. We'll try not to tear the place apart while you're gone." She said with a grin.

Optimus smirked at her before transforming and driving off. Hope walked back over to the group standing at the side.

"Come on, Jacky. Show me what you got!" Bulkhead challenged as he stood at one end of the hangar.

Wheeljack stood at the opposite end with a big metal ball in his servos. He chucked it at Bulkhead as hard as he could. Bulkhead was able to catch it.

"Hey! Nice lob!" he complimented as he passed it back.

"So what's that about?" Jack asked. He and Valorie were sitting next to Hope and Arcee.

"It's called lobbing, a favourite pass-time on Cybertron, especially among the warrior class," Arcee explained.

"So it's like catch, but more intense," Valorie commented.

"Pretty much," Hope said.

Miko was still playing her guitar and saw Raf just sitting on the floor. "Come on Raf! Show us some moves!" she encouraged as she began playing a tune.

"Oh, alright," Raf said getting up. He started dancing a way too familiar move.

"Of course, the Robot," Jack chuckled as did Valorie.

Bumblebee watched Raf's dancing. He started copying his friend's movements and was dancing along with the human.

Hope chuckled at her big brother, "Looking good, Bee!" she cheered.

Ratchet groaned as he rolled his optics. All he wanted was some peace and quiet.

Valorie looked around and noticed some bot was missing. "Where's Optimus?" she asked.

"Out for a drive," Hope told her, "Primes don't party."

"Coming at ya!" Bulkhead said as he threw the ball back at Wheeljack.

However, the throw was so high that Wheeljack missed it. It crashed into a wall and then crashed on Ratchet's nearly fixed Groundbridge controls.

Ratchet was startled at first and then glared at the two wreckers, "You know, I am attempting to perform sensitive calibration here!" he shouted in frustration.

"Sorry, Doc, guess we're a little charged up," Wheeljack apologized as he grabbed the ball. He then started checking out the Groundbridge unit as he walked towards Ratchet. "You built this bridge from scratch, huh?"

"I did," Ratchet answered, still annoyed.

Hope was closer to the two and could hear everything that was being said.

"That's quite a feat of engineering," Wheeljack complimented.

"Yes. It is," Ratchet agreed.

"Something wrong with it?" Wheeljack asked curiously.

"I didn't care for the way it sounded this last jump. I put it in shutdown," Ratchet explained.

"What if you need to use it?"

"Ooh, I can't interrupt the defrag process without causing irreparable damage," Ratchet replied.

"So, how long will the defrag take?" Wheeljack continued.

Hope couldn't help but turn her attention to the two. She was curious as to why Wheeljack was so interested in getting the Groundbridge fixed.

"A few hours, if we're lucky. Maybe longer," Ratchet admitted with a shrug before continuing with his work.

Ratchet didn't notice the angry and annoyed look on Wheeljack's face, but Hope did. _Why does he want the Groundbridge fixed so bad?_ she thought to herself. Her thought bubble popped when Wheeljack turned around and noticed her looking at him. She quickly turned her helm away to avoid him. She was getting a bad feeling, but she didn't want to jump to any wrong conclusions. So she stayed quiet.

Wheeljack, who had seen the femme's look of suspicion glared at her before going back to the game.

* * *

**(Later)**

Everyone but Ratchet was gathered around to hear Bulkhead's story about a mission he and Wheeljack were on.

"So there we were. No communications, low on Energon, surrounded by Cons, so what does Wheeljack do?" Bulkhead asked to the humans who were very interested in the story. "Tell them, Jacky!" he chuckled.

All eyes/optics turned to Wheeljack. He laughed a little, "What I do best," he answered.

Bulkhead laughed before finishing the story, "He chucked his only grenade smack into the main heat exchanger!" he announced.

"Yeah… seemed like a good idea at the time," Wheeljack shrugged.

"The joint went supernova!" Bulkhead exclaimed, throwing his arms back.

"Awesome!" Miko sighed dreamily.

"Yeah, I'm still picking shrapnel out of my backside," Bulkhead remarked as he scratched his backside.

"I'm not surprised, given the size of your backside," Arcee teased.

Everyone let out a chuckle. Everyone but Wheeljack. Wheeljack turned his attention towards the Groundbridge as he watched Ratchet tinkering away on it. Hope noticed this. Throughout the story she noticed he kept glancing back at the Groundbridge as if he needed to go somewhere.

Bulkhead gestured towards the grenade attached to Wheeljack's hip. "There it is. Jacky's signature, one grenade, one shot." He said to the humans before noticing Wheeljack not paying attention. "Hey, you alright?" he asked, getting his partner's attention.

"What?" Wheeljack responded.

"You don't seem like yourself," Bulkhead said.

"What do you mean?" Wheeljack demanded as he stood up.

"I don't know. You seem… quiet," Bulkhead pointed out.

"Ah, I've been stuck in a can for too long," Wheeljack reasoned, "I should go topside before I go stir-crazy."

"I have patrol in the morning. You can come with," Bulkhead offered.

"Let's go now," Wheeljack requested.

Hope was observing Wheeljack while he was talking. Something did not seem right.

"And break up the party?" Bulkhead objected, "Come on! The gang is loving you! You've gotta tell them about the battle of Dark Mount Pass!"

"You tell them," Wheeljack stated, "You're better at it. How about if Miko here shows me the rest of base?" he suggested.

"Yeah, sure Jacky, go ahead," Bulkhead agreed with a nervous laugh.

Hope didn't like the idea of Miko going with Wheeljack alone. She wasn't one to worry so much, but she couldn't shake this bad feeling she had about their guest. She got up.

"I'll go too," she said.

Wheeljack glared at her for a moment before he smiled. "The more the merrier," he stated.

Valorie stood up to go with her guardian, but Hope stopped her. "Stay here Val. I think Bulkhead's story is something you don't want to miss," she said with a small smile.

Valorie was confused by this, but noticed the uncertainty in Hope's optics. Feeling like it was best to stay, she sat back down.

Miko jumped up excitedly, "Tour starts now!" she exclaimed as she approached Wheeljack. Hope followed after her as she walked past Wheeljack who was watching her as she walk by. Miko was already asking Wheeljack a million questions at once soon as they walked out of the hangar.

As they walked around the Base, Miko was giving Wheeljack the whole tour telling him what was where and such while Hope followed behind quietly. She had not said a word as she kept her optic on Wheeljack. So far all he did was talk to Miko, but there was still something she felt was off.

"So, that's pretty much it," Miko remarked as she wrapped up the tour. "Energon stockpile, power generator, armoury; everything you need to blow the joint sky high."

"Where's this bunker located exactly?" Wheeljack asked curiously.

"If I told ya, I'd have to rip out your spark chamber," Miko answered dangerously. She then smiled, "Kidding! Just outside of Jasper, Nevada! Though I don't expect that to mean much to ya!"

"Can't say it does," Wheeljack said as they continued walking. "So, any way out here besides bridging?" he asked casually.

_There he goes again! _Hope thought to herself, _why does he want to leave so bad?_

"Why?" Miko asked as she stopped and looked up at him. "You're not planning to leave already, are you?"

Hope looked at him as he tried to come up with an answer. Miko just smiled at him, "Come on. I'll show ya," she then ran off ahead of the two bots.

Both were now walking side by side as Wheeljack glanced at Hope. "You sure have been quiet this whole tour," he said.

Hope jerked when he talked, "Oh! Yeah, sorry. I'm… not much of a talker," she lied.

"Funny. You don't strike me as the silent type. Even Bulkhead said you're quite social," he said, looking at her curiously.

Hope tried changing the subject. "Bulk told you about me?" she asked.

"Of course," he said with a grin, "He told me about all of you. You're all like one big happy family to him. Said so himself you're like a little sister. He also mentioned you're quite fearless, even took on a swarm of Scraplets with a busted leg," he said as he eyed the patch on her leg.

She shrugged as a small smile crept on her face, "I wouldn't say I'm fearless. I just did that to protect my family. That's all."

"I see," he said. "Well, I can't wait to see you in action. You know, once the Groundbridge gets fixed and everything." he said as he turned his attention forward again.

Hope looked at him suspiciously. "Why do you want the Groundbridge fixed so bad?" she finally asked.

This caused Wheeljack to stop in his tracks. Hope did the same as she waited for her answer. He looked at her calmly and just shrugged. "Thought it would be nice to see more of this planet. No big reason."

"Then why are you in a hurry to leave?" she asked with a slight glare.

"What is this, twenty questions?" he asked slightly annoyed, "Can't a bot just answer a question without an explanation?"

Hope was about to continue when a voice called out to them. "What's the hold up?!" Miko shouted from across the hall, "Come on, lets go!" Both Hope and Wheeljack glared at one another as they walked towards the human. Hope still couldn't shake the bad feeling she had.

They walked back into the main hangar where Bulkhead and the others were talking.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?"Wheeljack asked.

Bulkhead turned to face his friend. "I was just telling all the guys about you and me… at the Battle of Dark Mount Pass," Bulkhead answered.

"That's a heck of a story," Wheeljack remarked.

"Yup. Tell it!" Bulkhead demanded sternly.

"Talk, talk, talk! How about we go off-roading?" Miko suggested.

"Miko, stay out of this!" Bulkhead warned a little too harshly.

Hope's bad feeling was growing.

"Bulkhead… easy,"Arcee said gently.

By this time, Optimus drove back into the hangar and transformed before he approached everyone else. He had just came in and heard the commotion.

"Is everything alright?" Optimus asked.

Hope glanced at Wheeljack suspiciously and was the first to speak.

"Yes Sire," she said, "_Wheeljack _here was just about to tell us about the Battle of Dark Mount Pass. Weren't you, Wheeljack?" she turned to the wrecker with a glare.

He shot her a glare back, and she swore she heard him growl under his breath. He turned to the group.

"I'm not sure I…"

"Tell it!" Bulkhead demanded.

Wheeljack looked at Bulkhead for a moment. "Fine, if you wanna live in the past, Bulkhead," he said. He turned to the humans and told them the story. "The Wreckers were trapped between a Decepticon patrol and smelting pit. The Con's were vicious, bearing down on us with everything they had. Me and Bulkhead engaged the enemy, left them for scrap. Then I made us a way out using their backsides as stepping-stones to cross the molten metal." He finished his story and turned to Bulkhead. "Isn't that how it happened?"

"Yeah… That's exactly how it happened," Bulkhead said with a growl. Wheeljack just grinned. "Except for one thing…" Bulkhead continued, causing the look of horror to spread on Wheeljack's face. "I wasn't there!" Bulkhead declared.

This caused all eyes/optics to go wide. Even Ratchet gasped as he stopped working.

"I'd already left the Wreckers to join up with Optimus," Bulkhead revealed, "But you wouldn't know that if all you did was access Wheeljack's public service record," he said as he challenged the imposter.

Miko, who was standing too close to 'Wheeljack' was still processing what was going on. "Bulkhead, what does that have to do with-"

But while Miko was talking, Hope was keeping her optic on 'Wheeljack' and saw him lunged for the human.

"NO!" she shouted as she knocked the mech away from the girl. However, her leg was still recovering and was giving her a hard time to balance herself. 'Wheeljack' noticed this and spun himself around and tightly wrapped his arm around Hope's waist with her arms pinned to the side. He used his other arm to grab one of his katanas and hold it to the femme's throat.

"You know, you're really starting to get on my nerves, femme!" he growled, but in his real voice.

"HOPE!" Optimus and Valorie shouted.

"Stay back!" 'Wheeljack' warned as he backed up towards the Groundbridge with Hope, who was kicking and trying to break free. He brought the sword closer to her. "Or I'll slice her pretty little throat!"

_"__Don't you DARE hurt her!" _Bumblebee warned.

"Release her!" Optimus demanded as he took a step forward.

"That's close enough, Prime!" The Con warned as he pressed the blade harder against Hope's neck, causing Optimus to freeze in his tracks. "You don't want to lose your little girl now, do you?" he grinned cruelly.

"Decepticon coward!" Hope growled as she tried to kick her way free, "Let me GO!"

"Shut up!" he growled as he tightened his grip on her, "If you would have just minded your own business, you wouldn't be in this situation!"

Optimus glared at the Con, but couldn't do anything without him hurting Hope.

Just then the computer beeped repeatedly, signalling that the Groundbridge was operational again.

"About time," 'Wheeljack' said impatiently as he activated the Groundbridge. The Groundbridge lit up as he dragged a struggling Hope with him towards it. He grinned sinisterly at the Team.

"Let's get this party started," he proclaimed.

Just then a bot jumped through the portal and knocked the Con forward. The Con lost his grip on Hope as they both made their way to the ground. Hope landed on her front while 'Wheeljack' rammed into a wall and appeared unconscious.

Hope's head was spinning as she heard a voice say, "I'd shut that hole before the stink comes through." She got up on her knees and looked up to see Wheeljack kneeling beside her. Rage came upon her as she pulled her fist back and punched him right in the face.

Completely off guard, he staggered back as he groaned from the blow. Hope immediately jumped to her pedes and was about to strike again. He quickly grabbed her by the wrist, causing her to retaliate.

"LET ME GO SO I CAN REARRANGE YOUR FACE, YOU GIANT TIN CAN!" She shouted angrily as she pulled her other fist back.

"Whoa, easy!" he said trying to calm her down. "I'm on your side!"

Hope stopped herself as she looked at the mech and then noticed 'Wheeljack' laying on the floor. She double glanced before realizing her mistake.

"Oops," she said as the real Wheeljack released her.

Optimus hurried towards her and pulled her into a hug. "Are you alright?" he asked concernly.

"I'm okay, Sire," she assured him with a smile. He smiled back in relief.

_"__Hope!" _Bumblebee beeped as he ran up and gave his little sister a big bear hug. Valorie ran over to see if her guardian was all right. When Hope gave her a smile, she knew she was fine.

Everyone turned and saw the imposter get himself back up. He pulled out his katanas as he and Wheeljack began circling each other. Everyone stood back and watched. Bulkhead was about to intervene until the real Wheeljack stopped him.

"Ugly is mine," he proclaimed.

The two Wheeljacks then clashed swords with one another. Everyone watched with interest and were ready to intervene.

"Which one is the real Wheeljack?" Raf asked.

"Uh… I lost track!" Miko confessed.

"After what Hope did, It's one with the dent in his face," Valorie said.

Hope gave her a look. She already felt bad about it. They watched as the fight continued until the real Wheeljack knocked the imposter down and held his sword out at him.

"That's my Jacky!" Bulkhead boasted.

Wheeljack retracted his battle mask and turned to Ratchet. "You, hit the switch!" he instructed. Ratchet nodded and turned the Groundbridge back on. "It's time to take out the trash." Wheeljack then turned to Bulkhead. "All yours buddy," he said.

Bulkhead nodded as he grabbed the Con, rigged his grenade, and chucked him through the portal.

The Gorundbridge closed up again as Wheeljack walked over to his pal. "Nice lob," he complimented Bulkhead.

"That was AWESOME!" Miko cheered as everyone crowded around to congratulate Wheeljack.

Optimus approached the Wrecker, "Thank you Wheeljack, for coming to our aid, and for saving Hope."

Hope walked up beside Optimus as she scratched the back of her helm and gave the wrecker a sheepish smile, "Yeah, and sorry about that sucker punch. I thought you were the other guy."

Wheeljack laughed. "No worries! That's quite the arm you got there, Femme." he complimented with a thumbs up.

Hope let out a chuckle. "Thanks!"

* * *

**(The next day)**

The party was back on as Miko strummed her guitar with Jack, Raf, Valorie, and Bumblebee dancing to the music. Arcee stood by shaking her helm in amusement as Hope stood by her and swayed to the music. The two wreckers walked into the hangar after doing some chatting and Ratchet was back doing his usual work. Optimus stuck around this time, just in case.

Ratchet groaned at the music. "It's like a recurring nightmare," he complained.

"But this time, no Con to break up the party," Hope reminded him.

"Hey, now that you're part of Team Prime, we need to pick out a vehicle mode for you. I have some ideas," Bulkhead said cheerfully to Wheeljack as he elbowed him.

Wheeljack looked uncomfortable. "Uh… about that, Bulk… now that my ship is repaired, I'm itching to know… what else I might find out there," Wheeljack confessed.

The music stopped as everyone heard what Wheeljack said.

"You're leaving?" Hope exclaimed in disbelief.

"Why?" Miko asked.

Wheeljack turned to the two and smiled. He had gotten along with the two of them, and thought they both had what it took to be Wreckers. But before he could answer, Bulkhead already answered for him. "Because some bots never change," he said with an understanding chuckle.

"Wheeljack, know that you always have a haven here," Optimus said.

Bulkhead wrapped an arm around Wheeljack's shoulder, giving him a brotherly hug, "Jacky never stays, but he always comes back," he said proudly. Both him and Wheeljack then pounded fists together.

* * *

**(Later at the Jackhammer's location)**

Everyone but Optimus and Ratchet went throughout the Groundbridge with Wheeljack to say their goodbyes.

Wheeljack turned to Bulkhead. "There's room for two, Bulk, even with a backside like yours," Wheeljack offered, "Who knows what we might find out there? Some of the old crew?"

Bulkhead was tempted by the offer, but he glanced at Miko who looked saddened at the thought of her guardian leaving. As much as he wanted to travel the universe with Wheeljack, he couldn't leave his other best buddy behind.

"Sounds like fun Jacky," he admitted, "But my ties are here now, with them," he gestured towards the team, then to Miko, "With her." Miko looked up and was happy to hear Bulkhead was staying.

Wheeljack smiled and nodded understandingly. He turned to Hope. "Take care of Bulky for me, Kay Hope?"

"You bet, Wheeljack," Hope smiled as they pounded fists together.

He then turned to Miko. "If anything happens to these two, I'm coming after you," he said jokingly.

Miko just smiled. "I'll take care of them," she promised as she took out her cellphone and set it to camera. "Now say cheese!" she said as she took a picture of Bulkhead and Wheeljack standing together.

Everyone said goodbye as Wheeljack boarded his ship. They watched as he took off and disappeared into the sky. Hope smiled, knowing that their new friend would return real soon.

* * *

**And that was chapter 11! I hope you guys liked it! Please review and I will update as soon as I can. Till next time! Bye! :)**


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